Life is All About Changes

March 11th, 2010

And changing I am. We are in the midst of a major upheaval. Our house has been sold. We close on Monday and are moving closer to my husband’s place of employment. However, we don’t move into our new house until Friday – one week of homelessness shouldn’t be too bad.  I have packed and scrambled and cleaned and donated to goodwill all week long – Below are pictures of the current state of my studio.  My husband assures me it’ll be a piece of cake to reassemble my long-arm sewing machine. I haven’t sewn a stitch by hand or machine in over a week and am currently experiencing withdrawl symptoms!

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The Friendly Star

March 9th, 2010

I’m sure this block has another name but I’ve decided its the Friendship Star’s close relation so I’ve dubbed it the Friendly Star. I am sorry to say I have not made my sample this month as I am in the middle of moving from one house to another. Although the sewing machine is not yet packed, the rotary cutter and mat are so I’ll catch up later!

The pattern for this block is done the old fashioned way –  cutting triangles and sewing them back together. There is a quick piecing method to get 1/2 squares and 1/4 squares but I did not use it because when you are finished, half of your blocks will be twisting the other direction. If you look closely at the  four 6″ blocks in my quilt, Starry Block of the Month, two of them  rotate the other direction.  That’s how I figured out that little quirk in the quick piecing method!

Starr BOM Friendly Star

Good Luck and enjoy! Try to send pictures of your progress. I know everyone would love to see the colors you’ve chosen.

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Off to AQS in Lancaster! March 24 – 27

March 8th, 2010

Finished blocking these two quilts and have sent them off to the AQS show in Lancaster, Pa. If you make it to the show, maybe you’ll remember that you saw them there if you know they’re going to be there in the first place! I will not be able to attend the show as we will be right smack-dab in the middle of moving from one house to another that weekend. Say hello to my quilts if you get a chance.

You can see them full size in my gallery – How Many Ways Can A Goose Fly and All That Glitters is Not Gold

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Machine Quilting Class at Bear’s Paw

March 2nd, 2010

These ladies worked hard – quilted hard and were pretty exhausted by the end of the day but I think they really got something out of the class.  Judging from their samplers, I think we had a Picasso or two in the class!

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Katie’s Diamond Star – Boy! She’s fast!

March 1st, 2010

Katie started this quilt in the Diamond Star Class just one week ago – she’s finished it and already started on a second one!!! I absolutely love the blues! Its beautiful!

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Binding stuff

February 27th, 2010

In one of my most recent classes, some of the students were asking about binding. I have found a few youtube videos that seem to explain the process pretty well. I do have to say that I think they do not allow enough “extra” binding when they tell you to cut your strips long enough to have 10 inches left over.  After I have squared up and measured my quilt, I cut enough strips to have about 20 inches extra in length. This extra is quickly consumed in sewing the strips together, mitering corners and occasionally having to adjust seams on the strips to avoid folding a seam into the mitered corner (neither video talks about that but its is really THICK when that happens so you want to avoid it if possible – that’s another video, I suppose). Any way, I hope these two videos are helpful. I especially like the second one that demonstrates how to sew your two ends of binding together to have a “bumpless” finish. I do believe there is a ruler out there for this technique also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buCKs-Fgvb4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgX_gGJYEac&feature=related

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Machine Trapunto at Sew n Save

February 23rd, 2010

These ladies moved quickly on Sunday – cruising through all the steps of trapunto and barely stopping for a chocolate break! And they were very successful despite the fact I stapled their instructions together out of order!!

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Diamond Star Class at Seminole Sampler

February 21st, 2010

This group of ladies really knew their stuff and cruised through the class. The color selections were fantastic! It was a great way to spend a Saturday.

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Finished quilting the BOM – now to bind….

February 12th, 2010

Here’s the back of the Quilt – it was a little hard to get a good picture but I think you can see enough to get the general idea.  Just click on the picture for a closer look. Now I have to bind it. Binding is not my favorite part of quilting….

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Starry Block of the Month for February

February 8th, 2010

February’s pattern for the Sawtooth star – You will make one 12-1/2″ and four 6-1/2″ blocks.

Starry BOM Sawtooth Star

As I am doing this BOM along with everyone else, here are my finished blocks from last month and this month – And No, I haven’t done the applique block yet either!

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