Block Two - Be My Neighbor

Are you having fun?  I have loved diving into my scraps, pulling out a bit of fabric and remembering when and where I used this fabric, friends I may have been with, or the lucky recipient of something made with love.  Brings warm and fuzzy feelings to be using the last bits.

Building Permits for Block Two went out early this morning. So let's get started.

Cut all your pieces according to pattern instructions.  And then piece together in sections.  There are two distinct buildings, so it is easier, I find, to build one at a time.

Two roofs which require those pesky Flying Geese.  The silo has a chimney - a neat little twist.

Have both my roof sections completed here.

And then there's all those HST's (Half Square Triangles).  They can be a bit tricky if your seam size strays North of a quarter-inch.

But there's a solution....

If you find that your HSTs aren't quite measuring up to size, cut your squares a little larger.  Draw the diagonal line and sew either side of line like normal.

Cut apart and press open.

Get out that square-up ruler.  Align the diagonal line on the ruler with the seam of the square as pictured.  Align with the measurements of square required and trim away excess.

Making your HSTs over-sized assures that you will have perfectly sized HSTs.

And that's it for this week.  Wasn't that fun?

Happy Sewing!
KK


P.S. Don't forget to SHARE your pics!

SPIDERS....Oh My!

Every where I look, my yard is filled spiders and their webs.  They've been there all summer, but it seems as fall approached they kicked up the "decorating" to full gear!

Working on the Be My Neighbor Sew Along has been great.  Bags, baskets and drawers of little bits, strips, and fabric ends have been hiding in the corners of my Studio and under my cutting table reproducing - I'm almost positive!  Well it's time to clean the cobwebs!

It's been on my bucket list - a string quilt.  So the spiders have inspired me to get started on the spider web block.  This is a foundation piecing block.  And I'm always looking for another way to use a ruler.

I pulled out my Cozy Quilt Designs Strip Tube Ruler and the EZ Dresden Ruler.  (Both are available on my website if there are not already in your arsenal.)














The is a recycling, Use-It-Up project, so I dug into my computer paper recycling bin as well.  Use scrap paper for a foundation for the strip piecing.  With the Strip Tube Ruler as a template, I can get two triangles from an 8-1/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper.

Yes, a corner is missing, but there's enough to get the job done.  I do not want to put a seam any closer to the corner because of bulky seam issues.

 Using the center line of the ruler, make a small mark indicating the center of the long edge of the triangle (the hypotenuse for all you math geniuses!)


Draw a line from that mark to the corner.



Do the same for both triangles on the page.












Cut the sheet in half.  Make lots more.

You can use scrap computer paper, old catalog pages, or newsprint, even old phone books.


Just make them all the same size.

Make as many foundations as you have scraps, or as big a quilt as you want.

I always go BIG and have A LOT of scraps and this will be an ongoing project - so stay tuned.



Next use you EZ Dresden Ruler to cut the center "kite" pieces which will form a star. These pieces will all be white or off-white / cream pieces.  Cut 8 inch wedges.  If you have a large enough piece of fabric, cut an 8 inch strip and cut wedges as shown below, flipping the template as you go.  (Cut your pieces 8 inches, not six as in the picture.)

Let's go to the sewing machine.  Lower the stitch length.  Tighter stitches will make it easier to remove paper when completed.
Center a "kite" on the center line of paper foundation right side up.  Place first scrap strip face down.

Seam width is not as important, but try to stay 1/4 inch along aligned edges.

Stitch.

Flip strip.  Press.  Repeat.










Keep adding strips until paper foundation is covered and looks something like this..


I know, it looks like a HOT MESS!  It gets better!

 Flip the pieced triangle over, paper side up.  Using your cutting ruler and rotary cutter, trim away uneven fabric edges.

Then it's looking a lot more like what we are shooting for!  And we did't have to do any strange math calculations.  Hurrah!

Here's two together!  Now only about 80 more!



So stay tuned.  I'll be working and the pile grows.

If you are one of those overachievers.......remove paper carefully so as not to stretch those bias edges.  Sew triangles together forming quilt top.  Quilt as desired and POST pics!

Happy Sewing!
KK

Spring has Sprung

It's been a while and I am bound and determined to get back to blogging.  Spring seems like the best time.  Everything is fresh, renewed, and growing.  Awoken from the long winter's nap!

It’s that time of year.  Taxes are done and things need to be put away.

Winter is slowly losing its grip and those beautiful spring clothes with bright colors catch our eyes!

Someone recently commented that she saved slivers of fabrics for the birds to collect for their nests!  What a great idea!  And wouldn’t it be fun to find a bird enjoying her own beautiful fabric!   So what is your Spring project?  I’m tackling my sewing room.  Here’s the plan…


Clear out the piles.  Where to start?  Well, somewhere, anywhere, any pile – just start.  Clear off a surface because you need that space.  Sort things by project, and by use and what you want to save, throw away, or give away.  Can’t find that tool that you bought – it’s probably in one of those piles!  Stack fabrics by color on accessible shelving or by project and put tools in
jars or baskets that make them easy to access.

Keep in reach what you use the most.   What do you use every time you sew?  Scissors, rulers, rotary cutters and pins need to be easily at hand and safely stored.
Group supplies in task areas.  Pressing supplies should be by the ironing board, cutting supplies near the cutting table.  Re-purpose items.  A cutlery baskets is good for storing pens, scissors and any number of things.

Check out more storage ideas on our Pinterest page.

And this was found on All People Quilt.

Get rid of anything that no longer inspires you.  Throw them out or better yet, sell them or donate them.  Gather all the fabrics, patterns and instructions that go with that project and place them in a clear bag.  Take them to your next guild meeting, or donate them to a church, assisted living facility, 4H Club, or prison program.   Or use UFO’s for quilting practice.

Label and Mark Your Supplies.

More free stuff from All People Quilt!

Spring Cleaning makes getting started on the next project an enjoyable affair!  Less stress and let’s face it – an organized sewing room just looks great! 

Show us your favorite clean space.  Yes, you can brag!

Or your disaster!  Your quilting / Sewing sisters/brothers will help!

Who knows, you may win a FREE Fat Quarter.  Submission are due by April 10, 2016.

To Wash or Not to Wash...

To Wash or Not To Wash...

This is my maiden voyage into the blogging hemisphere so be gentle with me here.  My quilting dreams have morphed from the brick and mortar store, to an internet store, to a presence on social media on the internet. 
So I thought Id talk about how I got to "here" and recent conversations on some quilting boards and in a class I was teaching earlier this month prompted me into my first Blogging subject - laundry.  Now there is dirty laundry, airing the laundry, do the laundry, clean laundry that my children return to the floor only to be washed again - you know the type.   No, this conversation began with, "Do I wash my fabric before I start quilting?"

The answer was a definite "Maybe" or "Sometimes."

If you are working with fabric that has been hand dyed, or may have dyes that are going to bleed on to other fabrics, the answer is "Yes, you should pre-wash."  Synthrapol is used in the dyeing process and can be useful for rinsing out excess dyes remaining in hand dyed fabrics.  Retayne is another product
that helps set colors in fabrics so that there is no further "sharing."  The idea is to remove any excess dyes that remain in fabrics - particularly reds, purples, browns, and blues.  If it's midnight, your LQS is closed, and you need to start tomorrow, you can always fall back on HOT water and white vinegar to set the colors.  And no, you can't put them in the same load.  You must wash colors separately.
So now you've washed your fabrics...

And that crisp finish is gone.  How do you get that back into the fabrics?  There are a few solutions.  First, there  is good ol' fashioned starch.  Remember that from laundry days past?  Well, you have to be my age or older.  For the younger crowd, you'll fine this product right in the laundry isle of your local grocery store.

 To give your clothes a crisp edge, simply mix equal parts of water and Sta-Flo® starch into a standard household spray bottle. For a light starch feel, add two parts of water to one part starch.

So, now, one word of caution, well, several.... If you are going to finish this quilt and not get distracted as we quilters do and move it to the UFO pile.  Don't use starch.  Silverfish, and yes, we all have them, will find your fabric!  Bad news!!  And if you do finish the quilt, it will need to be washed to remove the starch.

In recent online board conversations, several "recipes" for making your own "starch products" were shared.  I'll let you do your own internet searches.  I can't recommend or say I have tried any of them.  One included vodka as an ingredient.  Now if I were going to use vodka in my sewing room I certainly wouldn't be spraying it on my fabrics!

A better idea is to use something like Mary Ellen's Best Press Starch Alternative.  It does not leave little white flakes like starch and it comes in many delicious scents or unscented.  And best of all...no concerns over bugs in your fabrics or quilts.

One additional thought on washed fabrics - If you are one of those quilters who wash every fabric as soon as you add it to your stash - how do you know for sure you washed it?  I run my fabrics' cut edge through the serger to prevent that hideous ball of unraveling that cottons are prone to form.  Don't have a serger?  Pinked edges or a zig zag on the sewing machine works just as well.  When I see that edge I know that a fabric has been washed.

But since I don't like to do laundry, and can't wait to cut into that pile of fabric I just brought home from the LQS, I seldom wash my fabrics.  

Your thoughts?

But all this talk of laundry has led me to the subject of my next blog - how much work the laundry used to be.  What a production it was!!  So stay tuned.  Until next week!