Some Good Progress & Some Set Backs

It has been a very good week with some progress in the quilt studio and some set backs.

I have finished all the star blocks for the Smith Mountain Morning quilt and I am trying to move ahead with the alternate block in this quilt.

I have sixteen blue stars and 12 brown star blocks all done and this feels very good.

I started on the quarter squares for the centers of the alternate blocks and for what ever reason they are 1/2 inch too small.

 

Very disappointing but I have moved on and have started cutting for the unit again.

This little block measures correctly at 3 1/2 inches. Yeah!

I almost did not write about this set back but then I realized that this is what is happening in the quilt studio this week so I should document it too. I have found that this blog is truly helping me keep track of my progress in my quilting.

I have finished for now working on the tumbler quilt. I have a very short attention span it seems and I am very bored sewing all these together. I added seven rows to the top and I have put it in the closet for now. I am sure I will grab it back out in a month or two and finish it up.

These are four rows I have started on and will pick them up where I left off soon.

I now have 74 blocks made for the Bonnie Hunter challenge. They work up so quickly as leader enders. 

Well, this is all I have for this week. Talk again next week.

Very Little Done in the Quilt Studio

I guess I had allot more to write about last week because I actually got a bit of time in the quilt studio.

This is still on my large design wall.

I hope to get in today or tomorrow to at least get the rows attached that I have pinned up there.

I have made about 25 leader ender blocks from Bonnie's challenge this year.

I put these up on my small design wall to show Eli and Chelsi. I really like the way it looks.

I am sewing the leader enders in between the pinwhells for the Smith Mountain Morning quilt.

These are the half squares laid out in the different colors waiting to be put into a block.

I have two sets lined up at a time to keep the rhythm going as I try to get the pinwheels done. I want to get the star blocks together soon. I find that just a few minutes piecing every chance I get really does move things along.

Well, this is all for this week. Talk again next week.

Cutting Table Completed

I am so excited about my new cutting table. It is more than just a cutting table. It is somewhat portable because we put it on wheels. Two of the wheels lock so it can be very stable. It is at counter top height so I will no longer be stooping over for hours, which should really help on my poor back. It has numerous cubbies to hold various different things, like rulers, dies, groovy boards and rotary cutters.

This makes easy access to my dies for the GO.

These are the strip dies and they are very long.

These are my Groovy boards for my HQ and they are very long. So it is great to have these fit in the long slots.

This end has my rotary cutters and several of my rulers.
My husband is the best. He was very good to include all the features that were important to me.
I love my new cutting table!

Next to report is about my flower embroideries. I haven't said too much about these lately because I was very intimidated by Miss Chrysanthemum and making sure her hair looked like the pictures of a real chrysanthemum. I have finished her now and I am working on Miss Columbine. The leaves on Miss Columbine will need to be redone because the leaves that the artist put on her are completely wrong. I am going to have to pay closer attention to the leaves from now on.

Here is Miss Mum.

The next thing I wanted to mention is my veggie garden. Things are really growing well this year which is a vast improvement over last year.

I have already cut the broccoli twice and it looks like it is almost time to cut again. I have three of these plants.

If you look close you can see the little tomato. I have three tomato plants this year.

I have also picked a zucchini off this plant and it has another one peeking out there. Can you see it?

The last thing I wanted to talk about is Bonnie Hunter's block challenge this year. I have not participated the last couple of years that she has done this even though I was very tempted with Flora Bunda. But this year fit right in with what I have been doing in my quilt studio. I have been trying to use up/clean up some stuff that has been sitting around in my bins for years. I have a ton of half squares that have been collecting dust since I got my GO cutter a few years ago. I was just having fun trying out this new toy and made these. I also have 3 drawers full of 2 1/2 inch squares already cut and waiting for a project. This is the project. Yeah!

This could become more than a leader ender project for the year and become a finished top very quickly.

Well, this is all I have for this week. It is quite a bit, maybe I should consider writing on my blog more than once a week.

4th of July 2013

Time sure is flying by.....it is now July 5th. We had our Flag raising ceremony yesterday at 7:00a.m. as we have done for the last 11 years. When we bought our house it had a very large flag pole that the builders had put in and as part of the offer we wanted the flag pole to stay. We have enjoyed having this flag pole and we go through at least 2 flags a year. We have a history of military service with my husband and we have one son who is an Iraqi veteran. Freedom is not Free!

In the quilting area I have a few things to talk about. I have finished cutting the blue points for the Smith Mountain Morning quilt and my next step will be the half squares. I will be cutting them with my GO Cutter. My husband bought the GO for me a few years ago for Mother's Day. I love it but I have to admit that I have not used it as much as I should. I am planning on remembering I have it now that it is where I can see it in my new quilting studio.

I have the GO out and ready to go.

The cutting table is almost finished. My husband is working on the facings and then I will be able to move it into my quilt studio. We designed this table and it has three slots where the shelf goes all the way through which will hold my long GO strip cutters and possibly the Groovy boards for my HQ. I will also store all my rulers and rotary cutters in this. I am very excited about this getting done because then all cutting items will be in one place and I will be able to find things quickly. As it is now I have these items strung out in different places and I have to constantly remember where I have stored each item.

This is the trim we will be using. It is the same knotty alder we have been using throughout the basement.

I have also cleaned and oiled my Ginza treadle machine but for the life of me I cannot get the top thread to pick up the bobbin thread and so therefore it does not sew. I suspect the bobbin casing I have in there is not the correct one. It looks newer than it should. I have searched many times on the internet for the Ginza company with absolutely no results. It is like this company never was.

I have also had my husband put up my hanger on the wall for my old aprons and my wooden spool collection. I have the first school sewing project on the right, an apron, and the apron my grandmother made for me when I was a teenage.
My grandmother would save the wooden spools from the thread and string them on an old shoe string. When I helped my mother empty her storage unit that she had had for 20 years I found these in there. It immediately brought back memories of wearing these at grandma's house as a young child.

Well, I think I need to get busy here at home. Take care and I will talk next week.