Thursday, August 30, 2012

Concentric Log Cabin – Day 2

Only got to work on this piece for about an hour this afternoon. 

11 more rows to go!

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Concentric Log Cabin – Day 1

Just started this kit today from Good Wives Co.   18 more rounds to go!

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Monday, August 27, 2012

A loonnnggg week …

Finished up my Myron’s Campfire wall hanging late Monday night.

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This afternoon/evening I installed my new HandiQuilter Pro-Stitcher hardware upgrade with hubby’s help of course!

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I was at OGS on Monday night for a meeting which ended up being cancelled, ALL day Tuesday for a quilting day with Sunda and Janet, and again on Thursday evening for our lineage society induction ceremony and potluck supper!  Sunda took me out for supper at Cracker Barrel on Tuesday evening because I had picked her up and drove her home while her car was in the shop.  On Wednesday I cooked food for Thursday night’s meeting.  Here’s a neat photo that I took of the sky above the OGS library on Monday night.

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On Friday I made a fun trip over to Good Wives Co. (my fave shop) and got backing for one quilt, a new kit and backing for it, a new book, and several half-yard and full yard cuts of some fabrics that I liked!  (all Civil War repros of course!)  And when I got back to town, my Mom and Dad and Grandma met me at Buckeye Express to have supper. 

On Saturday evening we were invited over to Mom & Dad’s house for a cook out!  It was yummy … hamburgers, baked beans, homemade coleslaw, chips & dip, etc., etc., etc.

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Monday, August 20, 2012

Myron’s Campfire – Day 2

Would have gotten this little quilt completely finished but several lines of thunderstorms rolled through on Sunday.  When the thunder and lightning started I had to shut down the computers and sewing machine and go down to sit with the pups.

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This was a very easy pattern, went together VERY quickly.  It could easily be translated to a nickel square (charm square) quilt.  I think I may just have to do that!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Saturday Night

I’ve been working for the last few days on a tumbler quilt … tonight I’ve finished my 16th. row.  I’m making this scrappy tumbler in a queen size for our bed.

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And I decided to start a new small quilt tonight … this one is called Myron’s Campfire.

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Friday, August 17, 2012

Summer Stars BOW–Weeks 5, 6 & 7

Wow, how in the world did I fall three weeks behind?  Eeek!  I put aside some of the other projects and just concentrated on these three blocks this afternoon to catch up!

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Monday, August 13, 2012

Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt

Finished getting the top assembled last night.  Now I just need to decide on backing fabric and binding – and I can get it quilted!

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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Quilting the Pot Holder Quilt Blocks

Here are pictures of each of the 24 blocks that make up the Civil War pot holder quilt that I just finished, and how each one was quilted.  A few still have some chalk markings on them.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Civil War Pot Holder Quilt (8/8/12)

Finished up my Civil War repro pot holder quilt last night.  I’ll make a label for it this evening and hopefully get it attached during tonight’s Olympic coverage.  Each of the blocks were done as an individual unit – which resembled a pot holder, thus the name.  They are each layered with batting and backing, quilted, and completely bound. 

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Here’s what the back looked like before they were all stitched together …

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All of the materials for this quilt were purchased at Good Wives Co. (Marion, Ohio) … which has quickly become one of my favorite shops.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Love, Love, Love Aurifil!

Here are a few pictures of some of the Aurifil thread in my collection.  I love the 50 wt. cotton and the wool.

Friday, August 3, 2012

How I Process (cut) Fat Quarters

Whenever I get new fat quarters, roughly half of them get cut up to be used in various scrappy projects.  The sizes that I tend to need are 10” squares, 5” squares (nickels), and 2½” strips. 

I typically do NOT prewash my fabrics.

I iron my fat quarters with Best Press.

I lay the fat quarter wrong side down on the cutting mat.  Typically I will stack and cut 4-5 fat quarters at a time.  The 18” side is at the edge of the table.

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After I’ve stacked the fat quarters that I wish to cut, I fold them over … giving me an 18” long folded edge.

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I place my Shape Cut Plus ruler over the stacked and folded fat quarters …

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and make four cuts – at the 0”, 10”, 15” and 17½” marks.

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Voila, now I have three segments to be sub-cut -- a 10” x 22” stack;  a 5” x 22” stack and a 2½” x 22” stack.

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My 2½” strips get put in a small bin.

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The 5” x 22” stack gets sub-cut into two stacks of 5” squares (or nickels).   I use the Quarter Cut ruler, making three cuts – at the 0”, 5” and 10” marks as indicated.

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The resulting nickel squares get put in one of my Civil War repro nickel square bins.

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All that is left is the 10” x 22” stack.  I sub-cut that also.  I use my Shape Cut Plus ruler to cut at the 0” and 10” marks.  This gives me a nice stack of 10” squares to put in my 10” square bin.

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At this point I pull out the Shape Cut ruler and cut a few things from this remaining section of my fat quarter stack.   By cutting at the 0” and 5” marks, it gives me a 5” strip from which I can cut two more little stacks of nickel squares.  I *could* cut yet ANOTHER 5” strip by making a cut at the 10” mark, but since I’m cutting pieces for a Tumbler quilt right now, I need a strip that is 4½” wide.  So I make a cut at 9½” instead, which leaves me with enough space to cut a 2” strip at the end.  (*If your fabric shop has cut generously, you may have enough to cut another 2½” strip.  If you pre-wash your fabrics, you may only have enough room for a 1” or 1½” strip at this point.)

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Here’s how it looks when I remove the ruler.

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Here are the 5” squares being sub-cut down into two stacks of 5” squares using the Quarter Cut ruler.

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And they go into one of my 5” nickel square bins.

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The 2” strips go into a project bin for a Spool Block project that I’m collecting for.

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And that 4½” x 22” segment that I mentioned earlier gets sub-cut into Tumbler blocks using the Creative Grids Tumbler ruler.

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When the ruler is removed, you can see that I get two little stacks of tumblers.  Some excess waste on the right edge goes into the trash.  The excess on the left side is big enough that I’m saving those scraps for a neat project that I will be starting soon!

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