RSC16 week 9

BROWN GOES OUT WITH A BANG!

Why has the shortest month seemed like the longest?  I think the five Saturdays have had a lot to do with it, especially being Brown Month.  

However, I've managed to come up with a colorful ending for it.

My actual production this month has been mainly two RSC 9-inch blocks and four Modern HST Sampler 12-inch blocks, finished size.

Here is the fourth block for MHSQ, Stepping Stones, finished this week.

We had the choice of how to make the six HSTs. I chose to use the Easy Eight method with two blocks left over.  It is the fastest and easiest method and has two sides on grain.  I also picked up a couple of tips that made it faster, squaring the blocks before pressing them open and sliding the ruler to cut only one side.  Cutting one instead of four sides was a real time saver.   Those tips were found in other posts and I'm sorry I don't recall where, so I cannot give them the credit they deserve.

Here are the six blocks total, involving lots of work, ripping and learning.  I guess the learning is worth the aggravation.

So for a change I have been working on some other projects.  

The first is an Easy Zippered Pouch, a tutorial at The Renegade Seamstress.  It is only 6 x 8 inches with a 7-inch zipper.  I found the zipper in my zipper stash. I'm sure everyone has one of those!  I found the scrap of brown for the outside and a fat quarter for the lining, and cut them out today, my last chance at brown.

The other project is 16-patches, which are 10.5 inches.  Two of them, the blue and the lime, resulted from not wanting to waste two experiments I was unhappy with.  

For my final brown block I wanted it bright.  No more dull colors for this rainbow gal, so here is my interpretation of brown with pizazz!

So let's look forward with excitement to March and new colors and spring. (Thanks to WENDY for supplying us with flowers from her mum's gorgeous garden in New Zealand this week.)

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.

RSC16 week 8

STILL BLUE AND BROWN - AND A SURPRISE

This week I finally caught up with my RSC16 Twinkle Star blocks by finishing the blue one.  It did not get its turn in January, so better late than never.  It almost was never due to my frustration.  For the second time I cut the half triangles from the wrong fabric instead of the white!  Don't know where my brain was.  I'm happy with the scrappy pieces I found, especially the center block with the purple flowers.

Here is the first star I did in brown and pink batiks.  The center was a nice fussy cut find from a layer cake piece of batik.

For the Modern HST Sampler blocks given by Alyce at Blossom Heart Quilts, I used the RSC16 colors again.  These are 12.5-inch blocks and there are two given each month.  So I get extra chances to play with Angela's lovely color choices.

This is number three of the Modern HST Sampler blocks called Lantern.  The example showed a white center block, but I added the warm 'light' in the lantern, one of my favorite batik pieces.  I love the swirling blend of the colors.

On Monday the fourth Modern HST Sampler block will be released.  Each one is designed to be a little more challenging than the last, so I should be very comfortable with HSTs by December.

NEWS FLASH:  Just after I finished the above post, I found a package delivery outside my door from Fat Quarter Shop.  This had to be an exception to my fabric fast.  I have been looking at the Note To Self line from Henry Glass since it came out.  I love the Fruits of the Spirit named on the apples  in the design.

Here are two of the Apple color prints and a red flower piece from the line.  These were all half price on the 24-hour Flash Sale.  The Black and White Text from Ella Blue was also on sale.  Could you resist? There are a couple of others you have to wait until next week to see.

I hope all of you have a great quilting week. I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Modern HST Sampler at Blossom Heart Quilts.

Sew Cute Tuesday February 16

SAME OLD WINTER

Now would be a good time to visit quilting buddies in Austrailia or New Zealand, I think.  Here in WI we have the same snow we had in December with just a few added inches.   Fortunately we have been spared the bad storms of you folks in the South and East.  A few flowers would do my heart good right now.  I miss my hubby on Valentine's Day.  He loved giving me flowers or a spring plant. 

But I did get something, the satisfaction of some small quilting finishes.  I loved doing the Modern HST Sampler Lantern pattern in brown and pink, the RSC16 colors this month.  I did add a light in the lantern.

 

The batiks worked very well in this color combination because they blend together quite naturally. 

 

A HAPPY SOLUTION TO A PESKY PROBLEM

I have a slight hand tremor, which gets worse under stress, such as rotary cutting, etc. This causes slipping when trying to cut or mark fabrics.  I do have good solutions for my rulers, but the marking is difficult.  I saw a sand board advertised, but all the sites on Google no longer are selling them.  So I found the easiest answer.

I bought a pack of three 9 x 11-inch fine 400 grit sandpaper sheets and they happen to have non slip backing.  So when I firmly set the sheet on my cutting board it stays put, and so does the fabric when I mark it. So simple and cheap!

All in all it has been a productive week, if you measure it in single blocks rather than multiple quilts.  I really ended up learning a lot.

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.

RSC16 week 7

 FRUSTRATION AND A SOLUTION

This has been a tough week as far as piecing new blocks. I was so sure I could make a Twinkle Star block. On the first try I cut eight half triangle in the wrong fabric.  After cutting again (good practice) it took forever to find the correct orientation of the side triangles to the main one.  When the light finally dawned, it went fairly smoothly.  Thanks, Angela, for the good tutorial.

I was glad I chose the batiks for this color combo because they just flowed together perfectly.  When I recover I plan to do a blue one.

This Monday we received the new Lantern block for Modern HST Sampler from Blossom Star Quilts.  This 12-inch block used the eight at a time method for making HSTs.  It went very smoothly. Again I was happy with the brown and rose batiks. 

I have a slight hand tremor, which gets worse under stress.  This causes slipping when trying to cut or mark fabrics.  I do have good solutions for my rulers, but the marking is difficult.  I saw a sand board advertised, but all the sites on Google no longer are selling them.  So I found the easiest answer.

I bought a pack of three 9 x 11-inch fine 400 grit sandpaper sheets and they happen to have non slip backing.  So when I firmly set the sheet on my cutting board it stays put, and so does the fabric when I mark it. So simple and cheap!

All in all it has been a productive week, if you measure it in single blocks rather than multiple quilts.  I really ended up learning a lot.

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.

Sew Cute Tuesday February 9

MY SEWING SPACE

Half of my bedroom is my sewing area 'studio'.  I have lots of storage space.  I took the doors off the long closet and filled it with shelves.  In front of it I've added this rolling bin, a junk room find.  It holds my pre-cuts very nicely.  Rolls of fleece and other backings are on the lower shelves. 

To hide the upper shelves my SIL used paper clips and clamps for a chargeable wall hanging display.

My daughter brought over these two tall storage bin units, which fit neatly in a hall closet.  She labeled them for me.  They hold larger pieces by color sort and jelly roll strips.

 

My work area is condensed, but everything is at hand.  I love my custom sewing table with extra work space.  Beside it is an old office table used for pressing with an ironing pad, or for cutting, etc.  it's also great for holding larger quilts during the quilting stage.  My small bookcase holds scraps sorted by size and color.  All my tools are within reach.  The green fabric bin on the floor holds WIPs and is lightweight to scoot out of the way.  Also, I love looking at my special quilts when I'm lying in bed.

In short, I have more sewing room in my one bedroom apartment than I've ever had before.

RSC16 week 6

IN BETWEEN

This has been a slow week for quilting here.  My shoulder has been acting up and also I am waiting for the mailman every day to bring what I need to get started.

   1.  For the Strips That Sizzle I decided, after piecing it, that a double border would be good to show off more of that great batik.  But the blue fabric from my stash turned out to be a bit stretchy in the width, probably from latex added.  So here is my plan so far:

These are the widths I'm planning to use, but now I'm waiting for some Windsor blue Kona which I ordered this week. I have lots of the batik left.

2.  I really did not like the first 16-inch scrappy block that I labored over so much.  I have been wanting to do leaders/Enders 16-patches.  So I started ripping apart the big block to reuse the blue pieces.  Some of them are here.  I will save the blue and whites for the future.

3.  It's February, so what about the new colors?  They are only colors so far.  I have decided to make Twinkles after all, because I just love the ones I've seen from so many of you.  My tri-recs have not yet arrived, so that is on hold for now.

This pile of batiks should be good for the Twinkles I plan to do and for the next two Modern HST Sampler blocks.  At least I did not wait until summer to change direction!

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Monday Making at Love, Laugh, Quilt.  Do check out what the talented folks are doing.

Sew Cute Tuesday, February 2

RSC16,autograph quilt,Strips that Sizzle,Modern HST Sampler

 PROGRESS MADE

This week has been productive in several projects.  The first is another of my quilts started long ago, now needing to be finished.  In this cold weather I have wanted an everyday quilt to use just as a throw.  Since 1980 I've been carrying around an unfinished quilt. 

When we moved from Sopkane, WA to Seattle, 300 miles away, I wanted an autograph quilt to take along.  My small quilting group made most of the blocks, using memory fabrics, including pieces from my first quilt made the year before.  I hand quilted it, but the border did not work out.  

This size was just right for my needs, so I trimmed off all the excess batting and bound it by rolling over the backing and zigzagging it on the front.  Nothing fancy, but full of memories of wonderful friends and family.  As you can see, it has RSC blue fabrics included, and it is nice and warm.

In addition to my RSC block done in week 3, I have finished the first two blocks for the Modern HST Sampler with Alyce at Blossom Star Quilts.

The first was the Candy block and the second Alyce calls Ninja, but I prefer Friendship Star.  I'm trying to use the blue and purple scheme, but choosing more modern fabrics.

Yesterday I was thrilled to receive my batik order from Hancock's of Paducah.  It looks great with the sizzling strips, so I have to find some backing, maybe more of the batik, because I bought two yards.  However , it is too lovely to be used as a backing, I think.  Probably I'll do a dark blue binding.  This photo shows the pieced squares laid on the batik, which was on sale, of course.

Looking forward to RSC16 new colors for February.  Do check it out at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts,