Peek-a-boo

'Hey Mom! Whatcha doin'?

Every now and then, Speckles goes crazy, jumping from one piece of furniture to another.  Sometimes that includes jumping on the counter, to the fridge, to the top of the cupboard...at top speed.  This was the sight this morning.

Yesterday, I finally broke down and bought a new ironing board.  I was shocked to find out that the one I wanted cost so much.  I bought my last one 10 years ago.  I guess if I divide the price for the new one by ten years, it doesn't really cost that much.  Today is the first day using it.  It's a wide one and so much more sturdy than the last one.

 Here's today block, Crown and Star - 61 pcs.

Crown and Star

Hope you had a good day.

-- Pat

Speckles Approves

Every now and then Speckles gets too quiet and I have to go and check on her to make sure she's not getting into trouble.  This was the sight this morning.  I guess she approves of my changes.  And it looks like she's daring me to tell her to get off.

Hope you had a good day.

-- Pat

Scattered

I've bounced around from one project to another these past two days.  Yesterday morning before church,  I moved all my bins & storage racks from the spare bedroom closet to my closet.  That puts all my sewing things in one room.  It seemed as though every time I sat down to sew something or prepare to sew, what I needed was in the other room.  This is much better.

This morning I took an inventory of all my blocks & flimsies.  I'm trying to put them in some sort of logical order.  (like that's going to happen!)

I only sewed one block today from the 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks book.  It was such a simple block but I couldn't settle in to sew another.

Cotton Reels

I was reading Julie Rose Quilts blog this morning and she wrote about a flimsy that she's had tucked away for a long time because she didn't like it.  I know exactly what she means.  I have one like that. Later, on another blog, I noticed a quilt with a pieced background with huge flowers and leaves appliqued on it.  I began to get a notion that I could do something like that with mine.  As usual, I didn't take a before picture but this is the next step.  I decided to use some of my hexie flowers to embellish the quilt top.

I've sewed a few flowers on and am so excited about it that I tried it on the twin bed and I think it could be a really fun bed quilt.  Who knew that flowers would make the difference?  So I imagine that's where my focus will be for the next few days.

Hope you had a good day.

-- Pat

Slow Sunday Stitching

Today I'm participating in Slow Sunday Stitching hosted by Kathy's Quilts.  It's a chance to slow down and spend some time doing hand work.  Today I worked on hexies.  Here are the three I completed:

Visit other bloggers who are participating in this week's Slow Sunday Stitching.  Join us and show us what handwork you've been working on.

Hope you had a good day.

--Pat

I fall to pieces...

Don't we all?  I love piecing blocks.  This is today's block:

Corn and Beans

Yesterday I commented/emailed photos to the Quilty Pleasures blog regarding using browns in our quilts.  Do you or don't you?  And why?  I use a lot of browns in my quilts.  More often than not, I'm drawn to fall/harvest colored fabrics.

I also said that I very seldom used black fabric.  Here's an exception to that--a quilt for my grandson, finished in 2012, using black fabrics in blocks from the 501 Quilt Blocks Project.  And though the free motion quilting is far from perfect, I quilted it myself on my home sewing machine, Janome Memory Craft 6600.

Manny's Quilt

Hope you have a good day.

-- Pat

It's in the bag!

Actually...it is the bag.  The block I quilted the other day has now become a zippered bag.  I'll be putting in thread, needles, scissors etc. -- supplies I need for hand projects, so I can grab it and go.

And...I've finished two more blocks:

Chisholm Trail

Contrary Wife

Hope you had a good day.

--Pat

Here a hexie, there a hexie

Everywhere a hexie, hexie...

Yesterday I visited Elm Street Quilts blog.  The post was about hexagons/hexies.  I commented about all the things I've created with my hexies.  Here are a few:

The first two quilts are completed as well as the zippered bag at the bottom of the last photo.  As you can see, I've started another Grandmother's Flower Garden and have many hexagons/hexies finished.  I'd like to make a twin size bed quilt.  I guess you could say I have quite a bit more to do.

On another blog (and I'm sorry I can't remember which one), I commented that I believe a Supreme Slider was the single most help for me to do Free Motion Quilting.  I mentioned that I had learned FMQ years ago, encouraged to try after watching some videos during Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project.  At one point I had Leah's book 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs  but have lost it somewhere along the way.  I haven't quilted in quite awhile so I was curious whether I could still do it.  So I took this block I had on hand and quilted it.  Granted it's just a stipple design, but the quilting went pretty well.  As I added the binding it became clear that my binding skills are a little rusty.  I'll have to work on that.

Forest Paths

Hope you have a good day.

-- Pat

Know Any Card Tricks?

How about this one?

Card Tricks

Spinner

I changed the sewing area around again today.  This arrangement makes more sense to me, having the cutting area close to the ironing board.

You'll notice Speckles, my cat, in the window.  I adopted her from the Humane Society about 2 months ago.  She's 1.5 years old. She's tried to train me but I have a long way to go.  You'll notice the can of compressed air in the window.   I spray it any time she does something I don't want her to do.  I thought leaving the can in the window would keep her away from the window and the sewing table.  Silly me!  It's a lot like having a toddler except that nothing is safe.  Everything is fair game.  She sure keeps me on my toes.

Hope you had a good day.

-- Pat

Applique

I ran across a blog the other day that showed a Baltimore Album quilt.  It made me yearn for this one I made in 2010.  I'm not sure it was 'Baltimore' but I enjoyed learning the back basting method of applique and of course I loved the completed quilt.  I donated it to a worthy cause.  After all.......I could make another.

Last night I found a free pattern for an applique block.  I'm including some of the steps and my first attempt at applique in a very long time.

The tracing is done on the back of the fabric.  I started stitching it but I can see there's plenty of room for improvement.  The stitches are too big and the curves aren't rounded enough.  But it's a start.

Hope you had a good day.

-- Pat

Piecing Frustration

I did some sewing today in my new space.  I need to tweek it a bit.  The flow is not right.  I need to think about it awhile.

I pieced two blocks today.  The first one, Antique Tile Block, came off without a hitch.  The second, Army Star, was another story.  I cut some of the pieces to the wrong measurement then sewed a few pieces right to wrong sides. I was tired after the first block.  I should have stopped there.  Here are the two blocks:

Antique Tile Block

Army Star

The photos may look a little crooked.  I've cropped them but haven't resolved all the issues with uploading photos from my iPad to Blogger.

Hope you had a good day.

-- Pat

What? No sewing room

I was reading a blog this morning about sewing room reorganization.  I was a little sad.  I don't have a sewing room.  About 4 years ago I moved from a 1 bedroom apartment to a 2 bedroom so I could.  I cut back on sewing for awhile and changed the room into a multi-purpose room.  I added a twin bed, digital piano, rocking chair, end table and a cat with all her stuff.  I'm unable to upload all the photos I wanted but here's one showing the room as it is now.

The two following photos show my bedroom now with its dedicated sewing space.

Sewing will be much easier now that I have this space and can move off the kitchen table.  It was a chore to rearrange furniture and I was happy when it was all done.  I'm sure I'll pay for it tomorrow.

Hope you had a great day!

-- Pat

A New Beginning

Seven years ago, I started the '501 Quilt Blocks Project' under the blog name '501quiltblocks'.  The goal was to make each of the 501 quilt blocks from the book '501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks by Judy Hopkins.  It took two years to complete the project.  Most of the blocks were used to make table toppers, table runners, bags, wall hangings and quilts.  I also donated blocks to various causes to be used to make quilts for those in need.  Along the way, I dabbled with embroidery, applique, knitting, zentangle, hexies and tried a number of other techniques.  Since that time, other than a few small quilt projects, I've taken a break from sewing.  Last year I failed to renew my domain name when it came due.  That blog is gone.  From time to time, I'll be including photos from the '501 Quilt Blocks' Project.

That brings me to now.  I've chosen 56 blocks from the book mentioned above to make a queen sized bed quilt for myself.  And I wanted to document it as I go.  I'll also be including other crafts and projects.

This new blog's name  is Quilt blocks and more and is found at Quiltblocksandmore.blogspot.com  It's a lot like starting over from scratch.  I've forgotten a good share of what I knew about registering a domain name, creating a blog, taking and editing photos and who knows what else.  So bear with me.

Today I've completed three 12 inch blocks.  Let's see if I can remember how to include them in this post.

Album

Calico Puzzle

Southern Belle

Phew!  I did it.  Confession.  It took almost as long to do this post as it did to cut and sew the blocks.  Enjoy!

Have a great day!

-- Pat