Christmas Ornaments

Christmas ornament time! This is the latest project that I'm getting started on. This is an old kit that I never got to -- it has everything needed to make three mini Santa boots using sequins beads and ribbon.

When done, this style of ornament looks fabulous on the tree.... especially when the lights go on.

Halloween Decorating

This is our little Halloween Town.  The decorations are from Dept 56, the big house is called the Haunted Mansion and was probably the first in the Halloween series.  The small house is a costume shop, there is also a flying witch, some super cute trick-or-treaters and several other accessories.

Woolies Churn Dash - Top Complete

Yippie! The top is complete -- no idea on how I will quilt it.  On to another project.

Woolies Churn Dash - Completed Blocks

In the fall, Sunday is usually for football.  Today my teams are playing so poorly I am sewing rather than knitting.  Drowning out the sound with my machine is a welcome distraction.  There is still some time for them to come back -- I hope so.

The churn dash blocks are ready to be assembled into a quilt.  This is the final arrangement with each block marked with it's position in the quilt.  I use the inexpensive flower pins to mark my blocks.  By using a fine tip sharpie I put row and block numbers on the pins and then attach to the blocks.  When you want to change the notations on the pins just use a bit of alcohol and the marker will wipe right off.

Field Trip to the Quilt Shop

On one saturday each month, one of my local quilt shops has a sale -- of sorts.

35th Ave Sew & Vac sells a reuseable shopping bag, the cost is about $6.  Seems a bit high, ok -- really high, but this is a great investment.  On one selected Saturday of each month when you bring in your bag to the shop you get:  a prize, a page of discount coupons, a game or two to play, and usually a meet and greet with a quilt designer.

Yesterday was the October sale day.  I bought  some fabric -- my current focus is on blenders and the Gees Bend solids are beautiful "almost" solids.  Plus, I knew I saw the Olfa frosted ruler somewhere -- this is the place -- I bought the 6.5" square ruler. 



My favorite part of the field trip was the meet and greet.

Carrie Nelson from Miss Rosie's was there with a wonderful selection of her finished quilts, books and patterns.  I had a few minutes to talk with Ms. Nelson -- she is talented, beautiful and is a really nice person.  Of course, I added another pattern to my collection.

Almost Woolies Churn Dash

The Woolies Churn Dash blocks are complete -- rather, as complete as they can be until I decide on placement.  This is the first look at block placement.  I'm certain that it will be changed multiple times before I decide on the finished color placement -- so, it will be on my design wall for several days before I begin the final piecing.

The Cutting Edge Ruler

There are always new rulers on the market. Along with most quilters, I have more than my fair share. I wanted to try one of the new frosted rulers since they are supposed to cut down on glare. I planned to get one from the Olfa Frosted Advantage line but they didn't have them at the store where I went shopping. They did have a couple of rulers called The Cutting Edge from Sullivans.

The Cutting Edge Ruler is frosted, non-slip and has a special edge (on just one side) that is designed to keep your blade sharpened as you work. The size I selected was a 4 1/2 inch square. A little smaller than what I like to use but they didn't have the larger square available -- besides it was an inexpensive way to test this style.

The ruler does seem to help with the little spots on my blade and it has a nice feel -- no slipping and no glare. But.... the edge with the sharpening feature adds just a little to the final measurement -- about 1 mm -- just enough for the cut to be off, to compound and to create major problems depending upon how you are using the ruler. Using it as a square up ruler is very difficult (and not worth the effort) for a couple of reasons:
1) only the edge with the sharpener has the accuracy problem and
2)you can not see the markings on the ruler through the special edge.
Using it for straight cuts and having the cutting mat provide the measurement is working. I will continue to use it but until the accuracy problem is corrected it will be the only Cutting Edge ruler I own.

Grandmothers Flower Garden Quilt

This beautiful Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt was made by Artie Dozier from Garden City, KS in 2001 -- the quilt was hand pieced and hand quilted.  It was part of a live auction that took place during Quilt-A-Fair at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont, CO.  I'm not sure what year I bid on this little beauty -- probably 2003 or 2004.

A New T-Fal Iron

As a big fan of Rowenta irons -- I have been using them for many years -- I fully expected to be happy with another one.   The Rowenta Focus seemed like a great fit, it is a craft iron without the auto off and is also a steam powerhouse -- I bought it, took it out of the box, admired it for about a month.  Then it went back into the box and was returned.  

I loved the idea of no auto off.... sadly, I don't believe I am responsible enough for that feature.  The other feature that scared me off is the redesigned soleplate with the high precision tip, I prefer the shape of the soleplate to be a traditional curve without the dimples. 

After looking on line and in person I found a an iron by T-Fal that receives almost all good to excellent reviews.  My new iron is called an Ultraglide that has a no stitck soleplate with a traditional shape.  I'm expecting great things from this iron.

Woolies Churn Dash Update

It is pretty well established that I am not the fastest stitcher, quilter or crafter.  But that's ok because I like the end results.

These are the "almost" churn dash blocks that are complete -- about one-third of the blocks. 

Almost A Block for Woolie Churn Dash

Block one for my Woolie Churn Dash quilt is as done as it can be for the moment.  Working with stripes has changed the way I would normally make this block -- since the churn dash block is one of my favorites it seemed that it would be an easy quilt to make.  Yes, it is an easy block but when you use a stripe for the background things change.

The final look depends on personal preference.  I absolutely must have all of the stripes going the same direction, most quilters won't worry about the direction and they will make quilts that will look just as wonderful. 

Since the quilt doesn't have a sashing, the way the blocks are pressed must be done in a such a way to make sure the seams snug up together.  Normally the pressing would be done like any 9 patch block but these blocks will not be able to be rotated 90° and keep the stripes consistant.  For now, my solution is to wait until all blocks are completed and in postion for the entire quilt before pressing the block units and completing the last two seams for each block.