This is what happens when you are home for 4 days in between big trips – one to Texas, and one to Oregon.
Piles EVERYWHERE!
I have enough fabric for a 3rd world country.
Or maybe even first world!
I have been on a fat-quarter binge, picking up fabrics in Pennsylvania, in Alaska, in Victoria, BC ---EVERYTHING was still in bags and piles and….
WHERE DO I PUT THIS STUFF?!
Let me tell you, when you can’t hardly shut the drawer any more….it’s time to say “Woah, Baby!!!” and spend more time sewing and less time shopping.
AUUGHHH!!
This is the piles of stuff that gathered on top of my longarm table. I have a quilt that needs to be quilted, and before I can do so, this table needed to be cleaned off!
Piles of strips, piles of blocks, a machine I’d been working on….you know how it goes ---give a girl a 14 foot long table and she will fill it to capacity and still run out of room!
Ta-Da!!
It didn’t take that long….and it looks and feels so much better. Do you feel more productive when you can see your flat surfaces? I know I do!
We had a great time on Quilt-Cam last night, and I got a ton done. LOOK:
Not quite half a kazillion, but I’m getting there.
Here I am using my favorite Easy Square Junior ruler --- placing the 1/4” line that goes all the way around the outside of the ruler directly on the seam line on the paper foundation side, and trimming my seam 1/4” away from that line. LOVE this ruler!
I have been getting questions and quests for the foundation pattern I am using for my Square-in-a-square Cornerstones for my Cheddar Sampler quilt.
I have uploaded the PDF for you HERE.
It will save as a pdf file on your computer, so save it somewhere you can get to it. Your desktop is good.
Then you must open Adobe and then open the file from within adobe to print it in the size it is supposed to be. You can’t just print it from the monitor view because the printer will print out whatever your screen resolution is. When printing PDF patterns, always choose “NONE” as the scaling so that the page will print out the size it was meant to.
The cornerstones measure 2” and it will print out that way if you save it first and print it out correctly.
((Note..the 2" measurement is AFTER they are sewn into the quilt. The cut measurement is 2-1/2" due to the seam allowance added))
I’ve also added the cornerstone pattern to the free patterns tab above!
Remember when paper piecing to set your stitch length REALLY small…1.5 on a digital machine, about 18 stitches per inch on a mechanical machine. Use a size 14 denim needle to poke bigger holes in the paper, and it will be really easy to remove. If your paper falls off too quickly, lengthen your stitch just a bit. If the paper is hard to remove, chances are it is because your stitches are still too large. Shorten them a bit. It makes a difference!
Busy morning here ---I’ve got a chiropractor appointment at 10am, a massage at 11:30 and an office full of desk work that needs to be handled today so I can head up to Quilt Villa tomorrow morning!
It’s my first SOLO visit to the cabin ---and I’m looking forward to some good and concentrated sewing time, just me and the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains!
Have a great Wednesday, Everyone!
30 comments:
Bonnie -- looks to me like you took those photos, the nasty messy room ones that is, at my house! How can anyone be a neat-nut and quilt?!
Smiles
JulieinTN
SOLO time--sounds like a balm for your soul right now after the way you've been running and how much you have been giving and sharing lately. I can see you with steaming mug of tea on the balcony, looking over that soul-filling view, then when you're calm, cool and energized, all that interruption-free, other-obligation-free stitching time. Woo hoo! You have earned it, for sure.
Oh yeah I've got to get a shovel to my sewing room too.
I always go in there with that intention and end up sewing and making
a bigger mess.
Must be disciplined!
Happy Sewing and safe travels
Alone time to just be sounds wonderful, enjoy.
Thanks for your tips on Quilt cam last evening. I have been working on "wild & goosies" and I had not seen your paper piecing methods before. I learned several things to make it easier. I seem to get too skimpy on the fabric I use then I end up taking it apart because my piece is too small, grrr. I am getting better. AND I have lots to practice on!
I say that's very brave of you to post the before pics for the whole world to see! :D Looking good in there now, though. :)
Don't you love when your studio is clean? I am reorganizing mine now and I think I will love it when it is done. Even have a new sewing machine coming on Monday yoo hoo. Enjoy your time at the cabin. :)
Enjoy your weekend! Sounds like heaven to me!
Thanks for sharing your progressing room, I to have many projects started before
finishing others-quilters dilemma
1
Every quilter who has any kind of a stash going can relate and I don't have a 14ft table but if I did it would be about like yours LOL
Thanks for sharing the foundation patterns
Oh, how I would love to be in the Blue Ridge Mountains today! Have enough fun for all of us.
If there are neat-nut quilters I don"t want them to be my quilting buddy!
Love how the pics of chaos are blk/wht and then presto the cleaned up version is in colour. Almost the way you feel when things are neat and tidy. Still don't know how you do it all. Have a restful weekend at Quiltvilla...good place to recharge your batteries!!
Bonnie, you are so generous! Thank you for sharing the cornerstones pattern/info. Have a great weekend!
You are coming to Oregon? What part? I just want to find time to sew and stitch...ugh...but yes, having a clear surface to work from is always good.
Well buggers....just saw your calendar...it was last weekend in Eugene. I live in Portland!
So I was wondering since you are going up to the cabin alone... are you taking one of the 4 legged friends? Guess that's what I would be doing if I were going by myself... that way if I find myself talking to myself.... I can always say I was talking to the dog/cat! LoL... have fun!
So I was wondering since you are going up to the cabin alone... are you taking one of the 4 legged friends? Guess that's what I would be doing if I were going by myself... that way if I find myself talking to myself.... I can always say I was talking to the dog/cat! LoL... have fun!
So I was wondering since you are going up to the cabin alone... are you taking one of the 4 legged friends? Guess that's what I would be doing if I were going by myself... that way if I find myself talking to myself.... I can always say I was talking to the dog/cat! LoL... have fun!
Wow that was a lot of stuff. Glad you found places to put it. Glad you are heading to the cabin to spend quality time sewing. You will enjoy yourself and hopefully it will be quite restful for you.
It's kind of the "Wizard of Oz" effect when it goes from black and white to vibrant color...LOL
I just returned from Oregon. I was in Eugene, Roseburg and Medford :)
Yes, Sadie will probably come with me :)
That is my hope! I wouldn't even care if it rained the entire time :)
Hi Bonnie, The link to the pdf works well but there is no pattern for the cornerstone pattern. The top link "2" Paper-pieced Square-in-a-square Cornerstone" just takes you back to this blog, no pattern. Sorry. Maybe I misunderstood and all you really meant to post was the pdf for the Square-in-a-square Cornerstones. I guess I'm confused, lol.
Link works just fine for me .... thanks for sharing, Bonnie. I LOVE LOVE LOVE your chaos! Had to forward it to a friend in AZ. I have totes overflowing with fabric, yet I keep buying more. I think it must be the finishing solution they use on some fabrics ... its addicting, but only until you get home and toss them in the washer. Then, after some folding and petting, they know they are home and nestle in very comfortably with their siblings!
all I am posting is a pdf for paper piecing the cornerstones.
Bonnie, I see you have a Grandmothers Garden in your longarm. I am wondering what pattern you will use for the quilting?? I am nearing the finish line of a large Grandmothers Garden quilt that I had always thought I would hand quilt. Now, after taking 6 years to get this far I have decided to send it out to be machine/longarm quilted but I don't know what pattern to do. Maybe you have a suggestion? Thanks.
How funny , sometimes I just can't make any progress until I clear off my cutting table that is about as close I come to a 14 ft table . But every time I clean up too much I end up spending time looking for where I put things ha ha darned if you do and darned if you don't have a very wonderful long weekend at the cabin.
Bonnie, I too love my Easy Square Jr. It has those big numbers we older quilters can see and the square is clear so I don't have difficulty figuring out if I am off by a quarter of an inch due to the highlighting. Just wish they made other bigger sizes
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