True Friends You Can Make a Mess With!

Oh what a beautiful mess it is!

I have two bins of shirt parts up at the cabin that have not been already stripped down into Scrap User’s System sizes, and it’s a good thing they are NOT because we need a variety of cuts from just two fabrics for each Sugar Bowl block, and if they were pre-cut we may have a hard time finding strips in the widths we need, in the length that we need.

I usually cut up the sleeves and the shirt fronts along with the yokes, but the backs are usually left whole, just like a fat quarter, in case I need to do something else with them, or need bigger pieces or other sizes – as is the case with this project!

“DIG!” I told her.  And she did!

The instructions were a lesson in value, with color on color playing a role, NOT just one color plus a neutral ---which is a different thing.  As always, Mona was eager to jump in!

Cutting strip sets!

It’s so great to have her at the cabin with me!

We were both so busy and chatty that I honestly forgot to stop and take photos of our day along the way.  Which is completely okay in my book.  It was raining.  It had been raining for what seemed like days on end, and it was the perfect day to spend stitching together and catching up on the past several months since we had seen each other.

And don’t worry about the guys – Football season has started, and Boise State was playing yesterday.  They were happy with the remote upstairs.  We had free reign of the sewing room downstairs.

Mona’s first 7 blocks!

This is her first foray into working with the Essential Triangle Tool for half square triangles.  “Triangles can be tricky!” She said.  “Yes, they can be.” was my reply.

We readjusted her seam allowance, and she gladly took a bit of instruction on how important it is to keep your left hand guiding the fabric to the left of the presser foot after the fabric has gone under the foot and you lose control of it from the front.  “Don’t let go with your left hand.” I told her.  “Keep guiding it until the needle is all the way to the edge of the piece.”

Another hint shined a light on for her: “When you add the next piece in line, LIFT the presser foot and scoot your next pair under there, aligning it nice and straight and set the presser foot back down on top of the new piece.  Less shift will happen if you do this one simple thing.”

“That really works!!” she said after giving it a try.

These are the two best tips I can give anyone who is having trouble feeding cut triangles through the machine.  It’s not the bias that is the problem, it’s how you feed it.  Guide the pair with your left hand all the way to the end of the piece so you get a nice straight seam, and lift that presser foot so you can get the next piece right up against the previous pair, and set the presser foot down again to keep shift from happening.

Try it yourself.  You’ll see what I mean.  Seeing is believing!

You'll find the Sugar Bowl Block tutorial under the free patterns tab at the top of the blog.

In other quilty Mona news!

Mona brought up this orphan block quilt BACK in progress that she is making to pair with another top that she has finished so she has a reversible quilt.  It’s coming along fabulously!  She has included leftover blocks and parts from all of the quilts she has made to date.  So much fun seeing how far she has come in just a couple of short years!

Plans are being made for Nov/Dec when I am home from travel so she can come out to Wallburg for a couple of days and I can get her busy with the long-arm machine to turn these into finished quilts.

As it was raining the whole time – and since I’ve been working hard and heavy behind the scenes on this year’s upcoming Quiltville Mystery – and since we were enjoying time with friends up here at the cabin, that’s all I can share with you today.

I’m headed back home this afternoon, I’m getting myself ready for my trip to Oregon tomorrow.  My flight doesn’t leave until early afternoon so I have the morning at home also.  My plan is to try to kick out one more pattern section before I head out to the airport.  I’d love to stay up here and sew some more, but other deadlines are putting on the pressure.

The rain has stopped.  It’s a beautiful early September sunny Sunday.  Perfect for a 100 mile drive.

I’ll catch you from there!

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage quilt found in North Carolina.

It's not something you keep for yourself, the only way to have it is to give it!

Have a beautiful Sunday, everyone!

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