Sashings Finished

I've been making progress on the sashing for the president's block project. First I cut 1 1/2" strips. I worked with 10 dark and and 10 light strips. Next, I stitched the strips together.

I pressed the seam allowance towards the dark and cut the strips into 1 1/2" widths. Next, I stitched the pairs together.

Next step was to stitch the segments together. . .first to make a four patch, then press the seams open and finally measure to be sure it measured 2 1/2" square.

I stitched two four patches together to form a 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" segment. Yes, I measured to be sure that I had sewn accurately!

I stitched three of those segments together and that is how I made a 12 1/2" checker board sashing.

I repeated these steps until, at the time of this post, I had finished all 97 sashings needed for this project!

In the beginning, I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough of the fabrics; but, I did. I even had about six inches left of each one!

Now, I'm auditioning fabrics for the cornerstones. Originally, I had planned to use this blue striped fabric with some of the cornerstones sporting a ring buoy. Well, the four blue squares didn't look that great. Drat, I actually have quite a bit of this fabric! Perhaps, it will become a border??

Neither did the dark blue squares "feel" to me like they should belong there.

So, I tried the red squares. Hmmmm. . . .maybe I need to try white??

It's Official--First Anniversary and a Give Away

I did it. I've published a blog for 52 weeks this past year.

I blogged about my processes, my inspiration, my success, my challenges and my lessons learned. Along the way, I've asked for your input which you have provided and I have appreciated.

To celebrate, I'm giving away this "extra pocket." These come in handy when you need to carry a cell phone, some money; but, you don't have a pocket.

To win, is simple. Become a follower AND leave me a comment by Thursday, July 7, 2016. I'll name the winner and contact you for a postal address.

A whole new year is ahead of me. It is time to decide what changes I'll make to the blog. I'm thinking about adding a flashback post mid-week or shall I go with a slow stitching post--I have a hand project that I'm not working on that I really want to finish. A slow stitching post would encourage me to make progress. Hm m m m. . . .I suppose I could do both.  So the challenge to me will be posting twice a week. Can I do it?? I believe I can. Believing is more than half of the battle! :)

President Blocks--a new project!

In 2013-2014, I was President of the Clark County Quilters guild. There are about 525 members and about 60 people are included in the board. During my term, we adopted a different electronic method of sending newsletters to the membership and accepted credit card payments. We had a busy year!

At the end of the year, I was presented with blocks to put in my own quilt from 42 of the members.  The previous past president determines what the blocks will be and lets the membership know. That past president then collects the blocks and at the last meeting of the year, awards them to the out going president.

It's funny, I knew I was going to get some blocks. The previous president had asked me what I wanted and I replied heart blocks in finished sizes 3", 6" or 9" AND a hand block size 9". The heart blocks would be on a light background using red fabrics. They could be pieced or appliquéd; but, no embellishments that would make quilting difficult. The hand blocks could be pieced, appliquéd, or drawn using a light background. In my head, I knew how I would arrange the blocks.

Imagine my surprise when I received blocks that related to my years of working for the local Red Cross chapter and teaching Red Cross programs. (I still teach some Red Cross programs!) I had worked for the Red Cross for 14 1/2 years in a variety of positions. In my last position, I supervised instructors. Because classes were held any day or time, I was on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If an instructor couldn't teach a class, it was my responsibility to cover it, even if that meant I taught the class. My last week, I taught three nights of classes. By nights, I mean, I taught from midnight to 8AM.

Grave yard shifts and my body time clock don't get along. I have a hard time sleeping when it is light! After one of those grave yard shifts, and on my first day back to day shift, I was fired. I had received no warnings. My supervisor told me that because I was teaching so many classes, I had neglected my supervisory duties which caused problems in the department. Of course, I was shocked. I had received an outstanding performance review a few months earlier. I cleaned out my desk, under a watchful eye and was escorted out of the building!

I had thought that I had dealt with the feelings; but, seeing those blocks brought back emotions that surprised me and not in a good way!

Next October, I'm part of our guild's featured artist show. I am one of 22 past presidents who will be exhibiting their quilts. So I needed to take these blocks to a finished quilt! I was fortunate in that I received 42 blocks. The first photo is pretty close to how I'm putting the blocks together. Isn't there a wonderful variety?

I decided to put a dark blue sashing around each of them so that I could make a more accurate block at size 12 1/2."

This fabric was in my stash---ok, I'll admit it, it was in the deep stash like more than ten years! The good news is that I used it and the great news is that I had enough!!! (With eight inches to spare!!!)

Then I had some red and white fabric--that fabric has been in my stash for about three years. I decided I could make a checkerboard block that would be a great unifier. I'm finding working on this project is cathartic.

The sashing added interest to the blocks. The bigger question is will I have enough fabric to make 97 12 1/2 inch units??? Hmmmm. . . .stayed tuned!!!

2nd Dress--This One Is For My Sister!

Our four year old granddaughter came to visit and said that we needed to do a really important "job."  She said, "Gran, follow me, please!" Hmmmmm where I have heard that before. . .except it was. . ."Girls, follow me, please!"

Off we went to the studio. Inside the door, she crooked her finger at me to come closer so I bent down and she whispered in my ear, "Sissy needs a dress too. Can we sew it NOW?"

So we did! She made it a little different from the dress she made for herself. I loved that she wanted to celebrate individuality. The pressing went faster this time.

There were less lines to remember and after a little over an hour. . .we had the tah dah moment. . .


Our four year old is so tickled to have made it on the sly. She plans to present it to her sister on June 4 so her sister will have a present to open during her birthday party. She also asked me if she could enter enter the dress in the county fair.

We did enter it in the fair. If you are less than seven years old, you can win a participant ribbon; but, you don't earn a premium unless you happen to be the youngest participant. . .then you win $10 and a big blue ribbon. Guess who was the youngest participant?

The judge wrote "What a wonderful gift! Keep on stitching!"

She told her mama that she is buying a Barbie with her winnings!










Sissy wore her dress on June 4th; but, didn't like the tie around the neck. At 2 1/2 years old, she KNOWS what she wants and has NO problem communicating that information to you.




So this week, we revamped the straps. Now there are two straps and they tie in the back.

Sissy is much happier with the dress now!

It was a great week!

Hexagon Quilt--4th QAL Finish 2nd Quarter

It has been a l o n g time in coming! I finished the hexagon quilt!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Is it obvious that I'm excited?) :) I named it--"Totally Hexed."

This is my label. It was a fun project and piecing the hexagons is a great handwork project. Actually, they are addictive! I can see more hexagon projects in my future!

This was a mystery BOM. JoJo Hall over at Through My Hands, designed and shared this project one block at a time at a local quilt shop. It was a challenge, but, for the most part, I completed my block each month! I started quilting this project back in March and posted progress here, here, here, and here.

I used stencils, quilting rulers along the way and learned that using a quilting ruler works best when you couple the ruler with a ruler foot. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to ruler work.

Looking back, I'd suggest picking a color palette. I would see the block and pick fabrics from my little pieces stash. Anything was fair game. I'd also suggest  having only one background fabric. When it came time to find sashing, I struggled. . .BIG TIME. I thank my friend and new neighbor, Pat Curtis for steering me towards the green and the orange!

I had fun adding some crystals to a few of the blocks for a little bling.
The spiders now have eyes!

The Christmas tree has some additional sparkle.

JoJo gave each of us two embroidered bees which added to the bee hive block.

The pumpkin has a little glitz.


















As do the snowflake and the heart.

I generally have a little wiggle on one side of my binding. I don't know how that happens; but, this time, I tried putting a 1/4 piece of seam tape along the quilt edge to help stabilize the edge. Then I first stitched the binding to the back of the quilt. I trimmed the edge and flipped the binding to the front where I was able to machine stitch it. The only handwork is closing the corners, stitching the label on two sides and and stitching the sleeve. Jean Wells, recommended 1/8" grosgrain ribbon; but, I didn't have that in my stash! Actually, I picked up this seam tape at a "sale" last March for five cents! It was 1/2" wide and I just trimmed in half. I needed two packages. It is a little fiddle to work with; but, it is worth the effort!







Ta dah! This is the finished quilt and the THIRD finish of my list for the second quarter of the Finish Along 2016 challenge. You can read about it here.

I entered the hexagon quilt in the county fair. It won a blue ribbon AND best of show! I even won the Clover Wedge Iron as a prize. How cool is that???

Some Goodbyes

On a Fourth of July about sixteen years ago, I woke up with flu like symptoms. The only problem was that the body aches didn't go away! I found I was getting stiffer and stiffer. After several appointments, my allopathic physician found nothing to explain the muscle stiffness; but, offered an antidepressant medication for the pain.

I didn't take the medication and lived with the pain. I thought this is what life is like as one ages. One day, I was attending a chamber of commerce meeting and I met a naturopathic physician. Through her, I met an acupuncturist, Michelle Newell.  Between the two of them, with a lot of time and effort on my part,  I beat the pain and moved into "normal."

In 2009, I was rear ended in a car accident. I was pushed into the person in front of me too. All total, I was hit twice from behind and hit the person in front of me twice. My neck and back were a mess. The constant headache was almost too much to bear. I had such nerve issues, that I was unable to hold the phone for a conversation longer than a minute. I was unable to address an envelope without my hand going numb after writing the first line. I had a cervical fusion which helped; but, I had to seriously change my lifestyle.

I gave up gardening which was difficult. I'd try to pull weeds, plant or transplant; but, looking down as well as being on my hands and knees aggravated my neck and back issues. (I still try to do a little something in the yard occasionally; but, that activity bothers my neck.) I still can't talk more than a few minutes on the phone or write more than about three paragraphs. I also had to give up cleaning. Honestly, I don't miss cleaning ONE bit!

Giving up quilting was NOT an option. Through Michelle, I met two licensed massage therapists who became an integral part of my health team. Lori Kramptez showed me that the body can continue to heal and she showed me how much massage can improve my attitude when it hurts less to move. 

Valerie Lyon, on the other hand, taught me how to move so that I could type on my laptop to stay connected with friends. More importantly, her sessions on how I sat when I quilted were priceless.
They have continued to support me through a shoulder challenge, a foot challenge and most recently knee challenges. Had these three ladies not been part of my health team, I'd be years on pain medications by now and no longer a quilter. 

Sadly, Tuesday marks the last day that the clinic, Circle Healthcare, will be open as the property owner has decided to demolition the office and build apartments instead. Michelle is closing her private practice. I hope to follow Lori and Valerie where ever it is that they land. Good byes are really hard. Although I truly wish them well, I miss them already!

Who has it been in your life that has helped keep you on the quilting track?

Detour--Granddaughter Request

Before I launch into the topic of this post, I want to let you know that I was a winner! I received my prize from Luanne over at Let's Create Today for leaving a comment on her blog. Please go visit her as she ALWAYS has something interesting going on in her "neck of the woods!" I received this beautiful card with her photography and a piece of her hand dyed fabric! Trust me, the hand on this fabric is luscious! Thank you, Luanne!!!!

A couple weeks ago, our almost four year old granddaughter asked if we could make some clothes.  This is the granddaughter who likes to spend her time in the studio drawing or creating on the design wall. Of course, I said yes, knowing full well that she was going to choose a pattern that either the fabric would be a challenge or the pattern would be a challenge. She likes to wear, as she calls them, "princess dresses."

She's been eyeing the leftover fabric from her sister's birthday cape. Click the link if you want to see the fabric and read about the cape.

Mind you, she doesn't understand why I can't make her a cape out of the leftovers; but, she wanted that fabric. I got out the patterns and suggested a simple blouse. She agreed. A few days passed and I knew she wouldn't be happy with the blouse so I made a trip to Joann Craft and Fabric store. I selected some pink netting and pink organza to go under the leftover fabric. I know she'd like a swishy skirt better than a blouse!

Then, my eye lit on the smocked fabrics in fun character prints. There was a Hello Kitty, Micky Mouse, Doc McStuffins to name a few of the options.  I thought she might enjoy a trip to Joann's to pick out her own fabric. I also decided that I couldn't just take one granddaughter and buy just for one granddaughter.

So, I enlisted the help of my husband to help with the 2 1/2 year old. We practiced following directions. The almost four year old can repeat the directions and demonstrate that she can follow them. The 2 1/2 year old? Well, not so much!  I can't tell you how many days in the last two months that we have been practicing stop and go. Some days are better than others!!

The day arrived for us to go to the fabric store. We practiced the directions at home before we left; but, the two year old was catching a cold; and was feeling yucky. She didn't want to go anywhere; but, my husband's lap!

The four year old was excited about going to the "Quilting" store. I explained Joann's wasn't really a quilting store; but, that one day, if this day went well, we'd go to a real "Quilting" store. She said she was prepared and she opened a little case. Inside was a piece of paper with some marks on it--her list--and a purple plastic play "debit" card! She was so excited about the debit card and was concerned about how she was going to get it to the store because she didn't want anyone to take it from her and she didn't have a pocket to keep it safe! She said she wanted to "buy" her dress!

I kept asking her how she had an account to have a debit card and her reply was, "Daddy, takes care of everything!" Oh my, her commentary made me chuckle!

She chose a Disney themed Mickey/Minnie mouse fabric. . .not so much for the mouse profiles; but, because there were pink polka dots and a second layer of fabric resembling a ruffle. She also chose a fabric for her sister. . .it is also a Disney themed Minnie mouse fabric with a dark pink smocked top and black polka dots on the bottom of the fabric.

This fabric is smocked at the top and in one seam, you've created a dress. Simple and fun. . .I HOPED! We also purchased a coordinating fabric for straps for each dress. She pinned the back seam the day we bought the fabric; but, decided that was enough sewing for one day.

The next day she came, sewing her dress was her first concern. So of course, we started right away on the project. She knew that I would help her; but, that she was the one who would be sewing. We made a French seam for the back seam. We spent time pressing four straps and then top stitched the edges together. She can guide the fabric well and commented about all the different lines we used to guide the fabric!

She knows the difference now between ironing and pressing. She likes ironing better!


She tried on the dress after completing each step. When we finished the hem, she put it on and said that she wanted to wear it home to show her mama and could we call Auntie and Great Grandma too???  But first, would I announce her to Papa so she could make an entrance??? Of course, it was yes to all. She is so proud of her dress because she made it HERSELF with a little help from Gran.

It was a GREAT one and a half hours in the studio! More quilting related posts ahead; but, this was an experience too precious not to be documented!

Hexagon Quilting Finished--3rd FAL 2nd Quarter!

Drum roll please. . .I've finished quilting the hexagon block of the month (BOM)!!!! This makes the third finish on my FAL 2016 second quarter list which you can read here.

What a painfully slow progress this quilting became. I'm excited to have typed "finished!!!" I had my second arthroscopic knee surgery mid-April and developed a funk with my motivation of all things "quilterly. "The funk is dissipating; but, still present. I hope that in a couple more weeks, I'll feel like my old self and that I'll have better movement and even less pain in my knees.

This is how I quilted the spaces in the border. I was so happy to get back to free motion work! I made a series of swirls.

I don't know that the swirls compliment the circles or the appliqué blocks. I figured the swirls worked because I used fabrics from my stash of "little pieces."  I did a lot of selecting, then I often decided to change direction so this is why I decided the motif fit! FYI--I did buy the fabrics for the Christmas tree block as I wanted ornaments!

I did buy the ruler foot for my domestic machine. This was the block I decided to requilt to try it out. You might not see a whole lot of difference between this block and the block below; but, I am happier with the lines as they are more consistent.














I did a little practice and found that the thicker foot sure makes it easier to keep the ruler in the spot that I wanted. I am pleased with how the block looks after I requited the left side! I'm wishing that I would have purchased this foot many months ago! I look forward to playing more with it on another project. I used Cindy Needham's stencils for the background.











This is what the whole quilt looks like. Notice, all the quilting barely shows which was my intent. The other cool finding is that the quilt measures 97 1/2" long on the left, middle and right side of the quilt. This is how it is supposed to happen; but, it is the first time that it actually did!

It measures 67 1/8" wide at the top; 67 1/4" in the middle and the bottom. Okay. . .so it was a little off; but, not by much!

My plan is to just go ahead and bind it without blocking it first!


Luanne, I forgot to take a photo of your fabric! Next week, I'll share it here!