Lost In Strings -

I am back in the string of things!

I found myself with a couple of hours yesterday after everything at the retreat was made ready.

All of these little bits and pieces and strings and strips have got to be sewn into something.

The best thing about string piecing?  ANYTHING can be made with strings.

You can cover any shape.  You can color it anyway you want.  There are no right or wrong ways to do it as long as the seam allowance is enough to hold it together.

It's fun.  It's rewarding.

And yes - I even LIKE the tearing off of the paper when units are trimmed up and done.

And in the case of these blocks - I even like sewing the Y seams.  There.  I said it.

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Binding Bliss!

I already knew that Bliss was a heavy quilt.

Seam allowances are about 3/8'' instead of a 1/4'' so they wrap around the hexie papers enough to hold it more securely.  This puts the basting tacking stitches closer to the center of the hexagon on the back to firmly hold them in place.  

These are small pieces, and with all of that folding of corners on the back side, there is more fabric on the back of the top than is showing on the front, or at least it feels like it.

Add a batting and a backing to the whole thing and this beast is HEAVY!

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Quilting With the TaDa's!

It was short, it was sweet, it was crammed full of quilty fun!

The Tada Quilters were down from Erie, Pennsylvania and beyond and through they were only with us until Sunday morning, they packed a full week's worth of activities into their stay.

Not only did they quilt into the wee small hours, but they took time out to cook amazing dishes, while others headed out on early morning dirt road hikes, or even took off early Saturday morning to go hike 7 miles on the Appalachian Trail.

I couldn't keep up with these ladies!!  They knew what they wanted to do and they just did it.

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All Through The Weekend -

Why this photo?

Because I found the car on empty - warning light on and everything and I had to go up and over and around to get to the nearest gas station.

Still - everything has become the deep green of August and I love this view in all seasons so I had to stop on the road, roll the window down and take a quick snap before moving on.

It just never ceases to catch my breath.

And I'm just really glad that I don't have *that* driveway in the upper left.  Mine is bad enough!

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