Friday 15 March 2024

Moda Mauve

This block is from the Moda Free Pattern page. Moda calls it "Love". (See webpage here.) (PDF Pattern here.) It's a nice name, but I don't see the love in there. It is so versatile in the sense that depending on where the values are, you can change the look of the block and quilters love that. 

So, I searched for another name. Spent a lot of time with Google and some translation websites, trying all the possibilities with Star, Nova, Comet, Shining, Rising, Morning, Praising, etc.  

It finally boiled down to two options: Rock Star ... or ... 


... Double Halo Star. Which one do you prefer? I'm open to suggestions, as always. 


Do you remember when I did the red one I said that the back of the block was a hot mess? I decided to construct the purple one as a 9-patch block, to see if it would be easier. 

The corner piece... 
First row second unit ... I don't know what happened to the middle unit's picture but it's basically a square-in-a-square block. 
It was easier to assemble and it lay flatter. 

To catch up with the RSC colours already called a green block had to be done. Out came some green scrap and ... 

This one was assembled as per Moda's instruction. The direction says to sew in rows. Well, this was the toughest of the three to do (for me). I had to refer to the picture constantly while sewing the pieces into rows. I ironed the HSTs in the wrong direction (too often), and the points won't align properly (that bugs me) due to the long rows. I might unstitch some parts and fidget with it. IMHO, this way is harder than necessary. 

The next one will be assembled with Flying Geese units and a real square-in-a-square unit. I'll let you know how that works out. 


Although I've not posted a picture of my bloopers for a long time, you can be sure that I still do them frequently. Here's my latest one.  



Decluttering with Joy ( 100 Days 100 Things Decluttered ): 

Some cutting, some cleaning, and some decluttering occurred this week again. 
The drawer of the 3" scraps was emptied and cleaned. It now houses my crafting and graph papers. 

The top drawer still holds the "bigger pieces" scrap, then two cleaned drawers (originally the 3" and the 2.5" storage drawer), and next will be the 2" drawer. The last drawer holds the letter paper and notepads. 

Don't have many 3" scraps left but they are nicely settled in this tub and stored in the bookcase...

... and look who I found at the bottom of that drawer! 

Another piece of the M&M millennium fabric. Yes, millennium! Gosh! will I ever live this fabric down? Haha!


This mini bookcase, the size of a lectern but with a flat top, is my cutting table beside my sewing table. It will be so easy to grab the tub I need now. 

The decluttered things being sent to a second-hand store include a photo album, a binder and some patterns. 

Did you do any Creative Glass? I had a lot of fun with this craft. It's a liquid leading that sticks to glass and then you paint the inside. I did the entire window next to the principal door with leaves way back when. 

I'm leaving you with a picture of Raven. He's not happy because I'm taking pictures of scrap instead of petting him. 


Poor thing! How will you feel when I'm sewing all day because it is International Quilting Day? 


I have a few projects lined up for that. And you? 


Have a great one! 
;^) 



Joining these talented ladies during the week: 





Saturday 9 March 2024

Simple Purple

A busy week with lots of cleaning tried to keep me away from my sewing machine. I persisted in sewing something anyway. Ha!


On Tuesday, at the Artisanat meeting, I received a big bag of scraps. (Sorry, no picture) Of course, I didn't say "No, thanks!" (See this post for the beginning of that story.) There was a lot of black fabric ... so much black! I cut some up already to make more Stained Glass blocks, trying to salvage as much as possible. 

Purple Stained Glass and crumb block. A lighter purple Stained Glass will be assembled this weekend. 


On the "Free" table at the meeting, there were not one but two embroidery/cross-stitch frames. I took both! This one needs a screw and a butterfly nut to hold the stand. 

The second frame is ready to go. So many of you make wonderful things with floss that I've been thinking for a while now, that I want to pick up floss again. ( I think I hear someone calling me Dory. Hahahahaha!) 



Sylvie gave me 17 magazines. (I guess she is decluttering too.) I already had only one of these magazines. Many hours will be spent looking into these projects. Thanks, Sylvie. 



I completed more Shoreline blocks this week as I wanted to finish the black thread bobbin. So, the total of blocks is now 84. Still have 172 to do. 

Well, that makes a scary emoji! 

A grey Stained Glass block was also assembled because ... you know, black thread bobbin. 

I am in love with this one.

Now that the black bobbin is empty, let's get into lighter colours and get the Moda block assembled. Gotta find a better name for it. 


Decluttering with Joy ( 100 Days 100 Things Decluttered ): 

I cleaned more than decluttered this week. I remain committed to reducing the scrap though. So, when I find a piece like this lovely purple that never gets used because of its bold white flowers, 

instead of putting it back in the scrap bag, I cut it down to 2 inches or whatever size. It will look great in a scrap quilt. 
 

Right now, the scrap bag corner is my pet peeve. They have to slim down and get used. 

So many scraps, so little time



Happy sewing everyone! 
;^)


Joining these talented ladies during the week: 
Cynthia for Oh Scrap
Angela at So Scrappy
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict



Saturday 2 March 2024

New Month. New Colour! New Project?

It's the end of the red month.

I didn't accomplish as much as I was hoping for but I'm happy with my progress. Can I say it was a squirrel week? 

Another Stained Glass block in red was made and the black borders were added to all the blocks done so far. Accompanied by a crumb red block. 



Shoreline grew somewhat from 38 to 74 blocks (36 more blocks). Only 182 blocks missing. Haha. Can I say "long-term project" if I work on it only once a year? 



While searching for something, I came upon a gifted box that hadn't been processed yet. It came from Anne back in December. Oh! The squirrels in that box! 


There are some flannel and some beautiful cotton. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. 

I want to play with flannel now, or those little tiny triangles in the box on the right. Ooooohhhh!

There are some gorgeous batik blocks too. Carolina Chain, I think. I hope I will find some of those batik fabrics to make more blocks. If not, what can I do with 14 blocks? I want to search for batiks now. 

Decluttering with Joy ( 100 Days 100 Things Decluttered ):  A.K.A.  Squirrels!! 

I started to go through my drawers of cut pieces. The one holding the 2.5" scraps was the first to be processed. It had lots of different lengths by 2.5". Now, they are all squares. Yay! 


Some pieces were not 2.5" anymore due to fraying and had to be cut down to 2". Some were simply rejected due to the poor fabric quality; some were part of Jelly Rolls and were added to some projects. (Now, I want to play with Jelly Roll projects.) 

Jelly Roll strips in the background and some of the 2" square with the 1.5 X 2.5" rectangles. (Now, I want to play with the little bits of 1.5 X 2.5". They are for the quilt Friends' Favourite.)

On to the next drawer. 😀


In the kitchen: 

This basket got a cleaning up too. It contains envelopes of mixtures to make vinaigrette, gravy, spicy potatoes, tacos, etc. There are bags of spices too. The oldest or the "not gonna do that again" got trashed. 
I did the same with the hand creme and lotion in the bathroom. Next was my make-up drawer. I don't wear make-up at home, so it has been sitting there for the last 8 months fermenting. I don't think that's a good thing for make-up. Out it went. I'll get some more when I start working again. (No. No job yet.) Two little black baskets were emptied in the process! Yay! 

On to better things? Yes! A new colour! 


Angela? What do you say? 



PURPLE

The project tagged with Purple is Broken Dish Swap, hosted by Barb Vedder a few (4, 5) years ago. I have the blocks but not the motivation. So, I might change that to something else. 


Update on Slow Stitching: 

Only 27 more blocks to quilt on Ohio Star Shadow. I'm not working diligently on it as I used to. Let's see if I do better during March. 



I found a ball of cotton yarn to make some dishcloth. (Squirrel!!) 

You probably can tell that I'm not a very "experienced" knitter. I had to read the pattern at every row, yet, I managed to change the direction of the waves. They're supposed to go all in one direction.  Please, don't ask me to do that again because I have no idea how I did it. 😂

That's it for me. Hope you have a lovely week. 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies during the week: 

Saturday 24 February 2024

Weekend at the Retreat

NOT! Due to my financial situation, I didn't go to the retreat with the girls. We still sew together via FB. The saddest part is that I'm not the only one missing out on the fun. 😟

So, what am I working on during my In-Home Retreat? 

Shoreline, of course. I said that I would attempt to double the number of blocks already done. I changed my mind when I counted the blocks: 38 blocks done so far. I'll just do my best to do as many as possible all the while keeping in mind that I need 128 of each block. 😵 It's a good thing that February has one more day this year. 😄

Shoreline Assembly Line 
Sixteen blocks were added to the pile this week. It takes about half an hour to sew two block-A. And lots of cutting time. But this weekend is sewing time! 


After reading Joy's post regarding the 100 Days 100 Things Decluttered, I looked around my sewing room with a different eye. So much fabric, so little time. 

DH said: Stop accepting bags of scraps.  
WHHHAAT?? 
Nope!Me: "Fine, but no more Pepsi for you! Fabric is MY addiction!" 
Him: "I understand but I don't keep the empty cans." 
Me: 😒 Okay, point taken. 

So, decluttering started. A few piles got smaller as I purged some fabric I didn't like. Why keep the skimpy one when I have some real, nice quilting cotton? Changing things around made me realise all that I have. Wow! 

This little drawer holding all my 2.5" was overflowing like most of the drawers around here. (Please, don't mind the cat food and the quilt waiting for some attention.)

One-third of the drawer is done. It will need more than one tub to empty it.

The squares will reside in these tubs. The drawers will hold my books, magazines, etc. The tubs will go on the shelf. It will be easier (I hope) to get to the pieces I need than from the drawer. At least, I can bring the tub to the sewing machine. 💡 This cleaning will take a while. 


Today, I am joining Joy in another challenge: The Table Scrap Challenge. The theme was heart, the same as my group, the Artisanat. Talk about nailing two challenges with one project! Yay! 

I used the backing fabric for the binding, just turn it to the front and sew. I had some problems with the corner because it is the first time I've used this technic and I didn't YouTube it beforehand. Some learning occurred. 

Leaving you with some 9 Patch blocks. Not many, but some got done with whatever little 1.5" pieces were found during the decluttering. 


Enjoy! ;^)


Will be joining these talented ladies. See you there.  




Saturday 17 February 2024

Working with Red

I finished the Moda block in red and guess what?


I didn't run out of white but ran out of the red. Life is funny sometimes. So, one of these quarts doesn't have the same red as the others. Can you spot which one? 

I'll have to study how to properly press all those seams. At the moment, it is a hot mess. 

My personal Rainbow-UFO Challenge for February is Shoreline (see this post for a picture of the blocks together). I counted the blocks made so far and the total is way more than I thought; 38 blocks. I don't think I will be able to double that (my initial intention), but I sure will give it a try. 

Have you ever thought you had more fabric of one colour than what's in your stash and when you pull out a UFO project you realize where all that colour went? I have! When I pulled out Shoreline, I found a lot of my reds hiding in there. 

This quilt demands a lot of cutting. A. LOT. Of. Cutting! I keep running out of varieties. (Thank you to all who sent me black scraps.)

You have to keep the different sizes separated. I use Mr. Christie's plastic cookie trays. Some use baking muffin trays. Whatever works for you. 

I started by making one black (left) and one red block (right). I didn't like it. I remembered that it is easier to do two of the same blocks at once. The black has 16 pieces and the red has 22 pieces so they aren't compatible with the leader-ender technique that I love so much.  

Two by two, they are slowly getting done. 

The next one is prepped and waiting patiently. 

I managed to squeeze in a Stained Glass red block. 





And now, a picture of my big fluffy cat, since he hasn't been on a post in a while.

He was sleeping on my bed but heard me walk into the room. He doesn't like the camera's lens so it is hard to have him looking up at it. He turned 3 years old last month. 

Miracle! As I was taking pictures of the blocks on the kitchen floor, Raven came by to check things out, flopped himself down and ... fantastique! ... he looked up at me. 

It looks like he has another cat's sleeveless fur coat on, but all that is his. He's winter-proof, lol. 

That's all for now. Have fun stitching! 

;^) 


Will be joining these talented ladies. See you there.