Late Night Paper Piecing!

I’m turning the camera on!

Wanna join me?

Click Below!

Live Video app for Facebook by Ustream

And The Winner Is: **Drumroll**

I just drew for the winner of the Quilts from 100 blocks magazine by Quiltmaker, and the Summer Breeze charm pack!

The winner is:

LauraJ has left a new comment on "The Envelope, Please! ((Give-Away!))":

I've learned so much since starting to come visit Quiltville! Perhaps the greatest nudge is that when I want to start a new project, I don't have to run to the fabric store to buy all new fabric - I just need to look at what I already have and use those scraps!

I love the idea of kitting and hadn't really thought of that before, but the other day I pulled out some strips and cut them into different width strings and they're ready to go in a kit together for a string quilt! And, I've learned that you don't need a whole day or week set aside to work on a project, you can get so much done by using snippets of time wherever they may be and all those snippets add up pretty quickly to getting a project done.

Plus, I've decided that when I grow up I want to be just like Bonnie Hunter! Thanks for all you do to inspire me everyday! really, you do!

Congrats, LauraJ! I’ve sent you an email letting you know you’ve won. Email me back with your snail mail address and I’ll get your goodies off to you in tomorrow’s mail!

And thank you to those who said they enjoyed a bit of fun with the QuiltCam.

I have no plans to do it “all the time” or on a set basis.

I have no plans to give you a heads up for a scheduled time. It’s as I feel like it, however it fits into my day.

I’m trying to overlook the hurtful comments of “friends” who said things like “I think the whole cam idea is weird” not to me personally, but in the form of a thoughtless public blog comment to my post.

It’s all just for fun. If it’s not fun, I won’t do it.

But if I’m mindlessly sewing and it encourages OTHERS to just sit and sew a while ---then I will.

QuiltCam Time!

I’ve spent the morning at the computer designing a mystery quilt I’m doing in Quiltmaker Magazine this coming Spring!

It will occur over 3 issues, and it’s not anything I can show on QuiltCam, but I’m ready for some mindless piecing!

I have BOXES of 2” strips, and I’m in the mood for some 9 patch strip set sewing.

I’m turning the camera on!

Wanna join me?

Click Below!

Live Video app for Facebook by Ustream

Lessons in Sliver-Trimming!

I hated sliver trimming. I really did!

In my busy life I don’t have time to stand around and trim one side after one side after one side after one side just to get one unit the way I want it to be so I can sew it into the block.

Multiply this by 500 or more units in a quilt and the task seems daunting!

But there are times when the only way to get the unit to be the way that I want it to be involves a bit of sliver trimming.

I try really hard to cut right, sew right, press right –so that pieces fall where they should fall, but we all know that sometimes when working with wibbly-wobbly fabric, as in home-spun type weaves that the fabric can take on a mind of its own.

Such was the case with the Misery Missouri Star block I was working on yesterday afternoon.

No – I did NOT put my working on this block live on webcam ((Did you see my last night's post?! We did live webcam last night and it was fun! And Notice there is a new LIVE QuiltCam tab at the top of the blog!)) as there was much huffing and puffing and even some whispered dirty words under my breath as even pinned seams seemed to stretch and misbehave. The “wing triangles” on each geese unit is made of two stretchy misbehaving plaids. And this was not a usual Easy Angle measurement either…so I had to cut them from Squares with an X. Euurrghg.

This is where my new friend, Monique Dillard came to the rescue! And she didn’t even know she did!

I worked with Monique for the first time in Williamsburg, VA for the Quiltmaker Magazine Block Party. What a sweet lady! I wish she lived next door because I know the two of us could cause a lot of trouble together.

On our last night, we had a great walking-talking moment as we made our way back to the hotel from the restaurant and she invited a couple of us up to her room to show us how she works with Quiltpro instead of EQ ((Fascinating –I think I want to explore more into that too)) and she demo’d her rulers to us: Fit to be Square, Fit to be Quarter, Fit to be Quarter 6.5 and Companion ((OOOH! This one does the cut off snowball corner thing with less waste and better accuracy than just sewing snowballs with squares on the corners!)) and Fit to be Geese.

I love my Easy Angle Ruler and Companion Angle Ruler, but sometimes that fabric will bow and shift and give me a wonky unit, and I used the Fit to be Geese to square these up! I used the Fit to be Square to square up my center unit!

Thanks, Monique, you saved my wonky block!

I’ll still try to cut well, sew well and be done with it --- but this definitely gives me a way to salvage my less-than-behaving units into submission.

My new ruler-friends are going to be kept in close proximity with my other favorites!

If you’d like to give these rulers a try –visit Monique’s website, Open Gate Quilting!

Tell her Bonnie sent you!

I’m LIVE!!

I have got it working! I added a tab to the top of the blog so you can check in – when it’s on it’s on and when it’s not, it’s NOT!

Live Video app for Facebook by Ustream

But come see!!

Kitty Cam & Thinking…..

I found this site called Ustream ---and I’ve become enamored with these kitties at “Friends of Feline’s Rescue Center 24/7” The camera is on 24/7!

This got me thinking….what if I were to set up a webcam for when I’m sewing at the machine? Would you watch? I wouldn’t run it all the time – because there are always things with deadlines that can’t be shown…but

Would you watch?

Watch the kitties and let me know if a QuiltCam could be fun? The only pain thing I can see is that there is an ad that lasts 27 seconds at the beginning...but watching the kitties is addicting!

Live broadcast by Ustream

I could set the webcam up under a tab at the top of the blog..we could sew together!

Sewing Saturday--The Best Removable Seam Guide EVER!

Oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah! How blissful is this Saturday?

I’ve cut up some fabrics. I’m piecing my jubilee blocks that haven’t been touched since we went and spent a long weekend in the cabin outside of Boone.

When was that? JUNE?!

And I pulled out a machine I hadn’t used in a while – and I don’t know why I haven’t used her ---

I’m sewing on my Singer 404A. It’s a straight stitch machine, and her name is Norma Jean! Her birthdate? 1958.

She came along the sewing machine timeline just after the 301s.

She doesn’t have the fold down extension bed….but there is something she has that I could just KISS this inventor for – this is the first of my “OLD” singers to have FRONT NEEDLE THREADING. The 301’s are great – but their bobbins are small ((The same size as a featherweight)) and they are off to the left under the bed, just like on a featherweight – which means they threaded with the needle facing sideways.

With the 404 – I don’t have to lay my head down on the table to see to thread the needle sideways. HUGE GREAT INVENTION! And because the 404A is a slant needle machine, that eye of the needle is so very visible when it comes to threading.

There were a lot of machines through the 50s that still threaded sideways ---and I don’t know if this was one of the first of its kind that did thread from the front…..wouldn’t that be interesting to know how things progressed? Probably too many DHs coming home at the end of the day to find their wives with their heads flat on the table trying to see to thread a needle from the side… ;c)

She’s also got a drop FRONT bobbin – where on the Singer Spartan and some of the others, that drop bobbin is on the left side of the needle.

This presents a problem with using a seam guide because every time you have to CHANGE a bobbin – you have to move your guide and the bobbin cover. For this reason I generally don’t like front drop bobbin machines.

I’m a seam guide user. I don’t like the FOOT to have a guide, but I like a guide on my machine bed….so this is what I came up with:

I scored a 1/2” line across a hotel room key by using a ruler and a rotary cutter with a paper ((dull!)) blade in it and snapped it off.

((Remember my visit to the Craddock Terry in Lynchburg, VA HERE? :cD))

I cut a 1/2” piece of that Scotch removable mounting strip stuff that Mary told us about HERE! 

I carefully stuck the strip of Scotch removable mounting strip to the strip of hotel key card--cut it in half, placed both pieces 1/4” from the needle and voila! The piece of room card stays stuck and doesn’t peel up like the cellophane on the mounting strip, and it adds extra thickness to the mounting strip guide so the fabric rides up against it easily.

I can now slide my bobbin cover plate from in FRONT of the needle without having to replace my seam guide. This girl is hummin’! I like to have my guide go all the way behind the foot –it helps me feed the fabric straight through the machine and past the needle. You can only do that on a machine that doesn’t have wide feed dogs. This machine is straight stitch only, so there are no feed dogs in the way.

Two more blocks to go to get caught up – I’m off to do those now!

I know it’s crazy to love so many machines ---they DO each have their own personalities, their motor or gear sounds ((Norma Jean is gear driven, just like the 301’s are)) and it takes less than 5 minutes to swap them out and give them a run. The best way to keep a machine happy is to keep it running, just the same way you’d run a car if it was parked in your garage for a long time ---when was the last time you pulled YOUR backup machine out for a test drive?

The Envelope, Please! ((Give-Away!))

See this envelope?

I don’t know if you can see by the mailing label who it is going to, but it holds very special contents!

This envelope contains:

• 6 blocks for my 2013 Addicted to Scraps column!
• A block for a future 100 blocks by 100 designers issue!
• A very late contract for a quilt that is running in the November issue!

Yes, I was supposed to GIVE the contract to Carolyn while we were in Williamsburg, but we got busy, and I put it off, and then her hubby showed up, and we all packed to go home and --- duh. There it was still in my suitcase! So she is getting it all in one large envelope that will be mailed off today.

This was one of the “MUST DO!” things on my list for this time that I’m home before Bali. My blocks for Quiltmaker are always due in August, because that’s when I’m home long enough to have the time to do them all in one big push.

And I am VERY excited about these blocks ---if you haven’t followed along with my column, be sure to click the “Addicted to Scraps” tab at the top of this blog. EVERY block I do for my column, whether I design it myself, or give an up-do on an old traditional favorite is a way to put my Scrap User’s System into good use.

For example….in the blocks I am sending in, I didn’t have to do ANY cutting of large pieces of fabric. I didn’t cut into Fat Quarters, I didn’t need Charm Squares!

I used the following strips from my pre-cut strip bins: 1.5” 2” 2.5”. I used 2” precut squares. I used 2.5” and 3.5” pre-cut squares. I used bonus triangles!

Making these blocks was a breeze---and because I tackle my scraps into uniform useable widths, they all combine together and made it really easy to pull the colors and fabrics I needed, getting me to sit and sew faster, and giving me the variety I need to give me blocks that I really love.

The hard part about designing and interpreting blocks for a whole year’s worth of magazine issues? I want to turn each and every one of them into a full size quilt!

To celebrate my completing this deadline, I want to do a little Give-Away.

Leave me a comment below, just give me ONE tip you’ve found here that has had a positive impact on your quilting, be it scrap management, or time management, or anything ----let me know how I’m doing!

One lucky winner will get Quilts from Quiltmaker’s 100 blocks, signed by me --

AND! to sweeten the deal:

I’ll throw in a charm pack of Moda’s Summer Breeze!

Let’s do the drawing Sunday night after dinner time. That’s tomorrow. So get commenting!

Oh – the movie last night? We went and saw “Hope Springs” with Meryl Streep & Tommy Lee Jones. IT WAS AWESOME! Definitely cheaper than therapy, and I wonder how many couples went that benefited from just seeing this movie? I laughed til I cried, and I cried til I laughed. It so hit home in so many ways, but it did it in such a humorous way ---GREAT MOVIE!

See it, and take your significant other with you. Don’t delay! Don’t wait until it comes out on DVD. Go to a matinee…take contraband snacks in your purse if you think the expensive concessions are holding you back. ((After seeing an ordinary bottle of water priced at $5.75 ---my big purse goes with me. Seriously. for WATER?!?)) BUT GO.

Today on the list? Randy’s posted some new Sow-Along blocks last week. I need to get caught up!

How nice is this? To be HOME on a SATURDAY!? I relish these, I really do!

iPhone-o-gram! Movie Night!

I don't know how long it's been since I've been to a Friday night movie, but that's what's on the agenda for this evening!

I didn't leave the house at all today and man was that nice--even grabbed a nap in the mid afternoon.

Of course that doesn't leave much to share blog wise, but that's okay with me too!

Bring on the popcorn!

Completely Insane!

I’m changing the name of my “Nearly Insane” to “COMPLETELY Insane!” Or Certifiable. Or some such thing.

Not much is known about Salinda Rupp, the original maker of this quilt, just that she was from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and her quilt was made about 1870 ---yes, and what drew me in was the wild use of Pennsylvania Dutch type colors – I love them! I am “SO” over BROWN ---give me COLOR!

Okay, sometimes I like brown….but I gotta be in a mood for it.

I finished the top last night, but had to wait until this morning when it was daylight to get a decent shot…the floor of my studio just never does it justice. I like the railing on my upper back deck.

It also poured and thundered last night – so this morning it is so very very incredibly green and lush out there. Mornings after a huge drenching rain? I love those too!

9 years from start to now!

For many years this quilt became a “retreat” project – I had my paper foundations in a binder, with each row in a page protector. I numbered, I crossed off, I assembled into rows as I went ---I had fabrics sorted by color in baggies, and it lived in a tote. When I’d go, it would come with me, and then it would sit---maybe for a year or more ---until the next time I got a hankering to pull it out and work on it some more.

Each little block in this quilt is a project in itself ---I took pics of some of my favorites:

I don’t remember the piece count. I just know that the pieces are tiny, there are a lot of them in this 6” block, and with all those seams this thing is about as thick as a potholder. OH, and that red polka dot? 1980s. :cD

I loved the medallion look of this one too….

And this one with the geese and the little pinwheels in the corners….And yes, I know that is a 1930s repro yellow in the center, but it had the look I wanted. Cross genre? Absolutely! Blocks like this just made me smile as they came together.And yeah, some geese parts may be chopped off. I don’t care.

I’ve chosen my border fabrics….pink and green.

This is a photo of Salinda’s quilt. Look at the border and tell me how YOU think it was made?

And please take in the fact that the left upper and lower corners just end where they end! I am wrestling with myself on whether I want to do that or not. This border was made with two rows of quarter square triangles that are offset to give the zig zag look. They end where they end. Her corners are mitered.

The “perfected” quilt in the nearly insane book has the border being made with rectangles with sew and flip corner triangles. Mucho fabric waste-o. Do I want to do that? I don’t know.

I could do the whole thing with two rows of half square triangles, giving me more seams, but less waste ((But more seam allowance)). Do I want to do that? I don’t know.

I changed the width of my sashing because what the nearly insane book said just didn’t look right to me. They were trying to adjust the quilt center to fit their pieced border. And a 1 3/4” finished sashing just didn’t divide well into a 6” block..so their quilting looked a bit strange to me, leaving quilted rectangles in the sashing instead of squares. I went with 2” finished sashings and cornerstones.

So now I have a quilt that is slightly larger, which is okay --- but I have to adjust my border to get it to fit, and that is why I am leaning towards “it ends where it ends” and let it do just what Salinda’s did above.

If a quilt is a reproduction, shouldn't it reproduce it all the way? I don't want to "perfect" out the charm and interest of an already wonderful historical quilt. To me the life is in the wonkiness and her personality shows in how she worked out the problems.

I also think Salinda’s blocks were smaller than 6”. Her whole quilt including the zig zag border, and the wide outer border measure 88” X 87 1/4”. My top already measures 79”. 3” of zig zag all the way around will make it 85”. And THEN how wide to make that outer border? I measured the blocks in the photo and measured the border in the photo, and the outer border is wider than the blocks.

This quilt may get to be ginormous!

I so admire the work that Salinda did in putting her quilt together with the fabrics and tools that were available to her in the 1870s. I don’t think I could have done it. I would have loved to see her work at her quilting. How did she mark? What did she use for templates? How did she come up with her designs? Where did her fabric come from? How long did this quilt take HER to make?

And I really want to know…would the “inner” quilt police in you let YOU do the border as Salinda did above?

Evening Edition: Free Kindle Book!

Yes, I’m browsing! I think I’ve sewn all I can tonight…I’ve got my top finished ((Just the center)) and photos will follow tomorrow – it’s dark out side now so not good for photography!

I just found a little freebie I thought I’d pass on. I’m sure I have plenty on my kindle to read on the way to Bali --- but what’s one more?

Misthaven of Maine by Loretta Boyer McClellan is free this evening in the Amazon Kindle Store

Genre: Contemporary fiction.

Book Description:
With genuine characters and settings steeped in history with stunning visuals, journalist and debut author, Loretta Boyer McClellan paints an engaging, coming-of-age journey, rich in the beauty of friendship and abiding love.

Misthaven of Maine offers readers an empowering, contemporary story, amidst the sweeping vistas and echoed grace of New England.

Born and raised in Boston, with unyielding ties to her ancestral home of Maine and to the sea, sixteen year-old Eliza Hales is from affluent, yet grounded means.

Despite experiencing her mother’s death when she was a young girl, inner strength and confidence prevail, providing a well-rounded independence and knowledge of self, which carry her into adulthood and throughout her authentic life.

An accomplished artist and sailor, her unshakable sense of family, loyalty and the pursuit of her dreams witness the growth of a remarkable soul, who lives and loves deeply, always true to her heart.

Like the ocean itself, Misthaven of Maine offers up captivating and thoughtful treasures – a multilayered perspective, sure to entertain!

Having made my first trip up to Maine this year ---I’m anxious to read it!

As always, double check before clicking that it is still free for you ---

Have a great evening!

Under The Needle!

It’s turned out to be a crazier day than I thought ---catching up with a long time friend I hadn’t talked to in a while while working on some block deadlines…my articles for Quiltmaker are due before I leave for Bali – so that’s what went on this morning.

This afternoon 7 of us were out to lunch ----local Italian joint, I hadn’t been there forever, and we lingered over delicious food and the Olympics that were playing on a TV suspended in the corner.

Upon returning home, I glanced at the computer to find MORE orders for String Fling – leaving me just an hour to fill them and get them to the post office before my chiropractor appointment at 4pm!

So much for dreams of sewing all day!

Update on the MRI ---the disk bulging and tearing is on the left side. I was encouraged as we went over the report to hear words used like “small narrowing” "small tearing" “minimal degeneration” At least it didn’t say WIDE GAPING, ENORMOUSLY DEBILITATING – you get the drift?

What’s weird is that all my pain is on the right side, not the left – but this is where my neuromuscular massage therapist’s brain kicks in ((Yes, I did that in a previous life and just retired from that about 4.5 years ago)) and reminds me that just because it HURTS in one area, doesn’t mean the problem is there, and often times things switch sides….if I am guarding on the left, because that is where the problem is --- I’m going to feel the strain on the right. So we are working with it.

And wonder of wonders, I have to thank my student Helen, who took my classes in Williamsburg – She is a physical therapist and we brainstormed on what to do about alleviating some of the pain symptoms on the right.

STRETCHING is huge.

Calves, Hamstrings, Quadricepts, hip flexors --- I already was stretching out those, focusing on Piraformis, that “pain in the butt” muscle ----but I needed to go farther, so I’ve been doing those every day since I got home from Williamsburg, and I’m feeling “minimally” better. But I’ll take it! I’ll keep doing these up and until I go to Bali – hoping that my leg won’t hurt so badly on long plane rides ((Did I mention it is 14+ hours from LAX to Hong Kong?! OY!))

So ---all of that under the bridge – I got home and pulled out my blocks and started arranging…

I’m sewing rows!

I’m joining rows together!

Tonight, even if I have to stay up til midnight – this top will be DONE ((Minus Borders))

And I know the posts have been quiet --- but that’s just a glimpse in what has gone on around here today --- OH yeah, and as I look at this picture….no matter how you try to plan your blocks, it looks like that red/yellow combo is repeated in two blocks that will be diagonally next to each other. Too bad! Too late now! LOL!

Have a great Thursday evening, everyone! I’m back to the machine!

Those who are lost, are found!

Thanks to the wonders of the internet I have found the quilter in Switzerland, and the other quilter in Australia who had orders pending where I needed more info and couldn’t reach them!

I even had other readers emailing me saying they could look them up in their local phone books and ring them up for me if I wanted! One quilter tried, but the phone was disconnected.

I was really worried until she must have read my blog post with her name on it. All is sorted now……those orders are on their way! Thank you to those who passed the word on! They contacted me!

I woke up this morning feeling really motivated to get to some sewing today.

Pick a UFO – the closest one to completion!

It’s my Nearly Insane! The blocks are done ---- the rows are mostly done, I just have to finish the rows, assemble the center and get started on the border.

I got an email the other day asking which fabric I am using for the sashing:

It’s a thimbleberries from long ago. The question went something like this:

”But aren’t you using reproductions?”

I started this quilt about 10 years go…and chose my sashing fabric at the same time because I wanted to sash it as I went. Nothing is worse to me than a quilt that stays in blocks with no progress to be seen for years and years, so I wanted to build my center as I went.

That said…my reply to the quilter was:

“I asked myself if Salinda Rupp would have used this if it had been in HER stash. I think the answer would have been yes! It looks very close to what the she used as far as I can see from the close up photos I’ve seen of the original quilt. I’m happy with it!”

I’ve thought about this a lot ---when Salinda was making her quilt in 1870 or so – she was working with what she had in HER scrap bag. She didn’t choose designer fabrics, or charm packs or a whole line by moda. She used the remnants from what was left from previous quilts, and household sewing projects. Maybe she acquired fabrics from other quilting friends and neighbors. But these are not “quilt shop quality” fabrics in her quilt either. Just every day ordinary scraps, and therein lies the beauty and the wonder for me.

This is a picture of a page of the original quilt as found in “The Ultimate Quilting Book” by Maggi McCormick Gordon. The actual sashing fabric is a “foulard” type print circa 1870, maybe a bit earlier if she’d had it in her stash for a long time. I just wanted something with the same flavor ---and when I chose my fabrics, the thimbleberries above that was in my stash seemed to do the trick…and most importantly, I had enough of it!

I still like it!

I hope to make a lot of headway today getting this top completed top center stage…and then on to the pieced border!

What’s up for your day?

From THIS --- to THIS!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I have sorted and pitched and organized and put away and filed and dusted ----

I’m still not ready to sit and sew yet, but it’s getting close!

Boy, does this feel GOOD!

Dancing in the Basement!

This is a HAPPY POST!
I have just filled, labeled and stamped the last remaining book order!
That means that even the orders that came in overnight, and the few that trickled in this morning are filled and on their way!
I have moved over 1290 copies of string fling, and that doesn’t include the other books that were included in those orders as well.
That's a lot of book signing!
Pre-Order status is now fully lifted, and things can now get back to NORMAL.


I’m so glad. It’s been so difficult. So many people had emailed “But I placed my order in June” ---Yes – but that was a pre-order and the info on the order page right where you clicked “add to cart” stated that it was pre-order and to expect delivery late July to early August.

They are all out – and I know it’s August 8th – but if it’s before mid-August, it’s EARLY AUGUST in my book!

Thank you all so much for your patience. I don’t know how I could have done it any differently ---when they said they would print July, I thought I’d have them late July. My teaching and traveling schedule does not change simply because the book delivery dates change. I knew I wouldn't "really" be home until Sunday, August 5th to really be able to sit at this.
We have had to work with it, from both sides.
And now life can return to normal, whatever that is.
I’m changing the info on the book order page now! NO MORE PRE-ORDER STATUS!
If you haven’t ordered String Fling yet, and you want to ---I’ll be shipping books daily until I leave for Bali on the 20th. Then I will resume shipping again when I return Sept 2nd.
You can order books HERE.
And now?!
It’s time to CLEAN THE BASMENT!
I am starting with horizontal surfaces --- desk tops, table tops, ironing board tops, quilting machine table tops, and sewing desk tops….let the gutting begin!

So Curious, George!

Somewhere along the line this past trip I ended up with this dollar bill.
It looks like an every-day-ordinary dollar bill, except that it has a red ring of text around the “E” circle on the left.
I had to put my glasses on to read it.
I have to put my glasses on to read the shampoo/lotion/conditioner labels on hotel toiletries too, heaven forbid you use lotion on your hair as conditioner, but that’s another story!
The red circle says:
“Track This Bill! www.wheresgeorge.com”
The back side is also stamped…it says
“Track this bill at www.wheresgeorge.com”

I guess they REALLY want me to track this bill!

Note: below is a clip, it is not functional, don't try to use it!

I went to the website, all excited…put in my 10 letters & digits and my zip code!

Just where has this bill traveled? I’m getting anxious to find out how many miles..

Maybe from California? or Texas? Or North Dakota!

I’m thinking as far away as I can ---ALASKA!!

And yes I know this next pic is small, but if left big it breaks the boundaries of my page and into the side bars, so CLICK IT to BIGGIE SIZE!

NORTH CAROLINA?!

The last place it was recorded was NORTH CAROLINA?

And I picked it up in Pennsylvania and brought it BACK to North Carolina. Well that lets the air out of my bubbles!

Maybe I need to take it to Bali with me and let it loose since I was told they do accept American dollars there.

Or maybe, just maybe – I’ll let it loose at LAX before leaving the country!