I really want to re-make the "Cathedral Stars" quilt that was raffled off at the beginning of the month. I really grew to love that quilt! So I started sewing 2" pairs together,matching a light with a dark. I did these while working on the "Swing Your Partner" quilt (I am liking the name more and more!) I just keep a plastic shoe box of 2" squares by the side of the machine, and grab a light and a dark to shove under the presser foot when ending a line of chain piecing. I have a cute basket at the back corner of my sewing desk where I would toss the finished 4 patches along the way.
This morning as I was cleaning up my area, I looked in the basket and WOW....there was a whole stack in there!
I decided to count them and see how many. How many do YOU think are in there?
I have this little thing I do. I hate counting stuff over and over and over, so I will pin things together in batches of 10. 10 blocks to each pin....and it is easy to figure out that way. Try it, you might like it!
I ended up with 97 four patches!! From making 16 of the milky way blocks, and sewing the triangle sashings and adding the borders. 97!!! Cathedral stars takes 305 4 patches, so I am about 1/3 the way there. How cool is that? This gets me stoked about leaders & enders all over again!
And of course while I'm counting and pinning little 4 patches together I'm not thinking or dwelling on all the stuff that needs to be done around here before I show the house? I also commiserated with myself by devouring the last of the pumpkin pie...for breakfast! And washed it down with a tall diet dr pepper....medicine to my soul!
This is so wonderful! I love your quilts and the way you reuse even the smallest scraps - very inspiring!
ReplyDeleteDo you press your leaders and enders as you go? Or, do you wait until you have finished a 4-patch (just finger pressing as you go) before you touch the iron to your patches?
ReplyDeletebonnie
ReplyDeleteactually a good time to put the house on the market cause who sis looking in Dec no one!
so you shouldn't have many visitors!
Kathie
Ya know -- you're probably not going to get many viewings this time of year, so it won't be that obvious (and besides, it's not like you are DESPERATE to sell -- you have the offer to purchase from the relocation folks). It does put some dents in your ability to buy a new house (and with your husband starting mid-December it may mean being separated for a bit) -- but you can do this! (also, think of staging the house as a way of "early packing" -- you can make some decisions about what stays, what goes, and get some of it packed up for the eventual move!). Yes -- Pollyanna is my other name!
ReplyDeleteFirt, I think the leaders and enders concept is brilliant. I always use scraps to start out my sewing. Now they will feel like they have purpose in life! A kindred spirit that thinks pumpkin pie - or any dessert for that matter - is the "breakfast of champions". I sympathize with your angst over packing and moving. I always tell my husband that they will have to take me out of here in a box. I suspect the box won't have room for me, though, since it will be full of fabric. Good luck and try not to stress.
ReplyDeleteOh, man, you mean to tell me that you had pie left? My husband had it all gone by Saturday morning!
ReplyDeleteHey! That's what I do when I need a bunch of blocks and don't want to keep counting, I pin them into piles of 10. You sure don't waste any fabric!
ReplyDeletePie for breakfast is a great way to get a serving of veggie/fruit in early in the day! :-) hehehe
ReplyDeleteI posted about this today, too! You're such a wonderful inspiration to so many, I'm deeply appreciative for all the tips and tricks that you share so freely. Pumpkin pie and diet Dr. Pepper? Sounds like a breakfast of champions to me...
ReplyDeleteWe sold our house in Maryland in mid-December...so much for no-one looking at houses during the holidays! When the viewed the house the realtor only gave me about 15 minutes warning - I was in the middle of decorating the tree and had half wrapped gifts covering the dining room table. Oh well....
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on the pins!
I just received my Quiltmaker magazine in the mail yesterday and there was the quilt with the leaders/enders again! They did do a really nice job of the article. I'm working away on my second quilt of this pattern. I have a lot of blues!
ReplyDeleteI just organized all my leader/enders on Friday and put them all neatly in a box...they were piled high all over my treadle machine. We had a real estate agent into our house Saturday morning, hence the motivation here as well LOL. We told him to look beyond the creative mess. It's 20 years since we moved and that was before we started collecting antique sewing machines! Our kids are threatening to be out of the country on moving day LOL.
Jacqui in Canada
"Funny" you posted about L & E just now. I've been feeling a bit guilty about not having block pieces to tag on at the end of a chain. (Use a piece of throw away scrap...or worse yet, have dangling threads? Oh noooo...) My current L & E project is a bit too controlled tho and requires more thinking before assembly. In hind sight...not the best choice for a L & E project.
ReplyDeleteFun story about men's plaid shirts. Found a bag my son had filled, destined for the thrift shop. Before donating the bag, I went through it. Eureka! 3 plaid cotton shirts, 2 of them lights. They're not XL but the price was right. *grin* Love your "Swing Your Partner"!
I love Swing Your partner as the name. Very cute. Glad to hear you got the house patched up. I hope things go well with selling it.
ReplyDeleteI think your leader ender basket is just calling out for a cat to nestle in the squares. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd pumpkin pie for breakfast sounds great... wonder why they haven't made pumpkin pie pop tarts yet?
Hi Bonnie, Checking in to see what you have been up to. I am hoping after the holidays that things will be a bit more settled around here so I can get quilting.
ReplyDeleteYou never stop amazing me by all that you get done. Hope the boys and hubby are all well.
Its getting cold in Texas, had snow flurries on thanksgiving !
Your breakfast sounds fine to me... you had a serving of veggies and the Diet Dr. Pepper erased the other calories. Who could ask for anything better? :-)
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