Category Archives: hand piecing

Colourful Nine Patches, Colourful Stars

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After making the squares in squares on Tuesday, I decided last night to make a few more of the 9-patch blocks set on point. They’re bright and cheerful and just what I needed after a few hours of working on the dreaded tax stuff. And the stack of finished blocks is slowly growing.

A couple more stars for the little hexagon quilt were made as well. There’s something about making a six-pointed star that I find irresistible. Possibly it’s because they always seem to go together so effortlessly. A few years ago I printed and printed the 1″ 60-degree diamonds on ’30s fabrics and solids. They’ve already been used to make one baby quilt and more will be used in the new hexagon quilt I’ve started, but that won’t even come close to making a dent in the number I’ve got printed.

That was one thing I learned early on with Inklingo. It really does pay off for me if I print lots of a shape that I know I like working with. One year I had the flu and wanted to stitch, but definitely didn’t have the energy to print or cut. So I opened up a box containing lots of shapes that I’d already printed and cut, and was able to stitch as many blocks as I wanted. Ever since then, I’ve tended to print extras of shapes. It’s also, for me, a fun way to design. I’ll grab a handful of shapes and play with them on my design book to see what I can come up with.

We have more work (hopefully, this is the end of it) to do on the taxes today. If nothing else, I’m going to start working with some form of a spreadsheet so I can keep track of everything and just be able to print off summaries at the end of the year.

Baxter was bored by the whole process and had a nap.

Square in a Square

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Four little 2.25″ blocks are all I have to show for yesterday’s stitching. I wasn’t happy with the corners of one of the pieced borders on Scrappy Star. I knew I was going to have to come up with a different idea. It will involve a little unstitching, but I know I’ll be much happier with the result.

Once I had decided on this idea I looked in the scraps container and, sure enough, I had just enough of the pink/green fabric for the four centre squares. I quickly ironed it to freezer paper, fed it through the printer and had my squares. A minute later and I had printed the 16 triangles needed to turn them into the squares in squares. Half an hour later and they were stitched.

A minute later, they were pressed.

Why so little stitching? Well, because we’ve hit that terrible time of year — tax time! A lot of organizing was going on here yesterday with more promised for today. Hopefully it will all be ready to go out the door by tonight. There will be some stitching tonight, no matter what, as I don’t feel like I’ve relaxed until some stitching has been done.

One of these years I’m going to get organized with a computer program so that this nightmare doesn’t repeat every year. Does anyone have a suggestion about a good program for keeping track of expenses/receipts that’s a Mac-friendly program and one doesn’t need to be a chartered accountant to understand?

As soon as the camera was turned on to take the photo of the little blocks, Baxter was posing.

Yet Another Pickled Lady

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A new Pickled Lady is ready to join the bevy of beauties. When I started putting the original Pickled Ladies together, I realized I wanted it to finish larger. So more florals were fussy cut/printed and more of the blocks have been and are being made as well as the partial blocks to square it up.

While I am still working on the red and white Feathered Star/Sunflower quilt, the Pickled Ladies are going to get equal time. As will Scrappy Star. In fact, Scrappy Star may need only a couple more evenings of work until it’s finished. So I may have three tops finished in relatively quick succession.

Pressing of the latest Pickled Lady took only a second and grading the seams took not much longer. This one is now ready to add to the group.

Baxter has completely taken over the blue and white quilt on the couch. I don’t think he could get more relaxed!

Cheerful Hexagon Blocks

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Close to half a dozen more of the little hexagon blocks were added to the group on the weekend. As each of these hexagons measures 2″, the quilt should grow fairly quickly. That said, for now it’s only weekend play stitching as I’m going back to work on the red and white piecing during the week.

We had a beautiful Easter weekend with mild temperatures and lots of sun. And, unfortunately, lots of allergens in the air. There’s a lot of sneezing going on in this household.

This week I’m hoping to go through my quilt books as I know there are a number that should go to new homes. They’re taking up a lot of shelf space and are books I know I won’t be looking at again. What do you do with quilt books which you longer want?

Then I’m hoping to attack, once again, my fabric and try to get it organized in a better fashion. I need to figure out a way of storing it that doesn’t involve large containers as they’re too heavy for my hands. One idea I’ve had is to empty a bookshelf or three and use them for the fabrics I most often turn to. That way they’d be out where I could see and easily access them. But that would also put fabric within reach of a certain kitty who just loves nothing better than to get a piece of fabric.

Saturday night I failed to put all the little hexagon blocks out of reach and Mr. Q.O. woke up Sunday morning to find two of them on the bedroom floor. There was no damage done and no teeth marks. Baxter just likes carting them around.

Mr. Q.O. captioned this one, “You woke me … for food?”

Tiny Drunkard’s Trail

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Not much got accomplished yesterday, although these little stacks of the pieces needed for more of the 2″ Drunkard’s Trail blocks are cut out and ready to stitch.

I did manage to make these three blocks.

Which will be added to these four blocks. This is going to be a really small quilt, no larger than 8″ x 12″ when it’s finished. And that’s the total of what I have to show for yesterday. I was wiped out from the allergies. Can’t remember a year when they’ve been this bad, but a friend suggested it may be due to our incredibly mild winter. I think she’s right.

Baxter’s not suffering from allergies. He’s interested in finding out if there are some more apps for cats.

Hexagon Pinwheels and More

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Part of play time on the weekend was adding the triangles to two of the pinwheels. I’m not sure whether I’ll add a plain 2″ hexagon in the centre of each set of six little blocks. Perhaps I’ll add some redwork on a 2″ hexagon. Whatever I decide, it’s going to be some time before this turns into anything.

I might do something like Emma’s Butterfly Stars, although I may ask Mr. Q.O. to draw some little creatures that I could use for stitcheries. Or I may just come up with a different setting altogether. For now, it’s a nice little project to which to add a block or two every week or so.

Monday was a lovely spring day. This is perfect weather to be anticipating baseball season beginning. We’re heading to a friend’s on Thursday to watch the Jays’ season opener. It seems like it has been a very long time since we’ve seen a baseball game.

Baxter found a new perch on the blue and white quilt that is draped over the back of the sofa. Now that he’s found it, that seems to be a favoured spot. I love how well his lynx tips show up in this photo.

Drunkard’s Trail Variations

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Ever since the Drunkard’s Trail collections came out, I wanted to play with the variations. This one was made with the 6″ collection. It seems massive in comparison to the 2″ blocks, which were the ones I first made.

Then this one, made with the 4″ collection.

Finally, this one made with the 3″ collection. Although made with the 3″ collection, it finishes at 6″ because I used one of the “extra” shapes as the large centre.

They all press beautifully and I’m grading every seam as I go. The blocks are all going to be mixed and matched in the final layout. For now, I’m just having fun making some of each variation in each size. It won’t be a large quilt. At best, I think it may be a small lap quilt.

I’ve decided that while I am trying to stick to the red and white quilt during the week, the weekends are play time. Of course, the operative word in that sentence is “trying”. I’m so easily distracted by other projects!

Baxter was crashed after some pretty hectic play time Sunday night.

Another Teddy Bear Quilt

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This is another simple quilt that was made for the teddy bears. It measures approximately 22.5 x 27 inches and was such fun to make. Twelve 4.5″ LeMoyne Stars and a border and it was done. It’s hand pieced and machine quilted. This was the first quilt I machine quilted using anything but straight lines. On the borders I managed to quilt a cable, although it doesn’t really show up in the picture. That may be one of the benefits of working with a small quilt when machine quilting for me – I can manoeuvre the quilt sandwich a bit easier.

During the summer of 2008 it was also put to use for a teddy bear outing on the roof garden. Finding the old photos of these quilts is rather fun. I’m actually finding quilts I had completely forgotten about.

I’m still working away on the pieced border for the red and white quilt and, while I work on it, am thinking about another idea for a red and white quilt. The next one will be a small quilt though, I think. This red and white Feathered Star/Sunflower quilt is going to be rather large although I have sorted out how I will baste it. I’ll put it in the collapsible floor frame to baste it. No more crawling around on the floor with safety pins, not that that’s even an option with an inquisitive cat like Baxter around. I can just imagine what a nightmare that could be.

Speaking of Baxter, this photo was taken last week. Mr. Q.O. captioned it, “Any treats over there?”

A Favourite Revisited

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While I continue working on the red and white quilt, I decided I’d revisit some of my favourites. This is actually right up there at the top of that list. Simple nine-patch blocks, yes, but there’s something about this quilt and this photograph of it, in particular, that I just love. The nine-patch blocks measure 3″ finished, made with squares I printed using Inklingo. It’s hand pieced and machine quilted and looking at it makes me realize that the simple quilts are just as beautiful to me as the more involved ones.

It was the focus of a teddy bear adventure in this post back in June of 2008. When I looked back in my archives to find it, I was shocked that it was almost four years ago. Assuming I don’t get distracted again, which is never a safe assumption with me, I may show a few other quilts from the past on the blog over the next couple of weeks.

It was really quite chilly here yesterday. I think today’s supposed to be a bit better and then Wednesday better yet again. Yesterday the heat was back on and the windows closed again for most of the day. Oh, how we were spoiled by that lovely taste of summer in the middle of March.

Baxter was looking very alert for his photograph on Monday afternoon.

Happy Hexagons

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Having shown Cameron’s Windmills again seems to have piqued my interest in working with those little half hexagons once more. So out came some 1″ white on white hexagons I’d printed ages ago and I made these two little blocks.

They took only a few minutes each to make and, as I finger press as I stitch them, only a second to press.

I’m going to print and add 1″ white equilateral triangles to the pinwheels and then use them along with the new hexagon/half hexagon blocks and perhaps something else, just for fun, and put together something. I don’t have any idea how large this will end up or when it will get finished. I knew that box full of half hexagons was going to eventually come in handy. For now, I’ll just make blocks periodically and when I think there are enough I’ll play with a setting.

We were out running errands on Saturday and oh, how the temperature had changed. And even more so last night! It was cold and windy but it appears, if our forecast is right, that this colder weather isn’t going to last long and we’ll be back to the warm weather within a few days. I hope they’re right as the tulips are coming up, the daffodils are about to bloom and the crab apple trees are starting to get their leaves.

One of the errands was to pick up a new keyboard for my Mac. I had literally almost worn the L and N keys out. A lot of the letters on the keys were worn off, but the keys themselves being worn out? And only those two? I’ve had some fun thinking about what on earth I use those keys for so much that they were getting worn right out.

When we’re taking photographs of the little quilt blocks, we usually have a board propped up on the chair Baxter has claimed as his own. And most of the time he then jumps up and wiggles his way under the board. Sometimes he peeks out. Mr. Q.O. captioned this shot, “Is that thing gone yet?”

Other times, he’ll be right under the board but one paw will come up and he’ll try to grab whatever is on there.  Mr. Q.O.’s caption for this shot is, “I’ll wait here until it’s gone.” I think it should be more like, “Put that block closer to the edge, please.”