Quilt Along Block Three

 I got block three done for the Jelly Roll Quilt Along, you can click on the button on the sidebar to learn more.

I don't know that I like this block, though I think I was supposed to alternate the way the blocks are turned, but I still don't think I'd be in love with this block. For one thing it uses none of the background. Oh well we'll see once all the blocks are done.

 I wanted to thank everyone for their support for Little Bit's appointment and the fabric eggs, the pattern can be found here, though I did make some adjustments. For one thing I made the template narrower, and I switched the way the grain line went, I'd rather a tall long egg then a fat one that looks more like a ball then an egg. Not over stuffing would help, but hey what fun would that be?? I also am going to admit I took pictures of the 'good' sides of the eggs I made. This is a new thing for me so I think it worked out well.

Little Bit is having petit mal seizures, or that is what the neurologist thinks. She is scheduled for another EEG, MRI and they took blood and urine samples to check for a few other things, including protein metabolic disorders. So right now it's things as normal until we find out differently.

Some crafting going on

 Little Bit wanted to dye Easter eggs yesterday, a few of the dozen above, which somehow led to me making fabric eggs. Well they were supposed to be eggs, some are a bit misshaped.

What do you think of the wreath? I was thinking of threading them together like that. Little Bit decided to play Dora/Swipper and ran off with the eggs several times while I was making dinner, she seems to have lost at least two of them.

I also got the binding sewn down on the Rouenneries table runner.

It's been sitting around just waiting for me to get my butt in gear so here it is. Now it just needs to get washed, dried and all crinkly.

Tomorrow afternoon Little Bit goes to the neurologist for the results of her EEG and who knows what else. I don't really expect much but maybe I'll be surprised and we'll get a few answers about her cognition etc.

I have an odd child

Seriously. She doesn't eat chocolate and now this.

She is enjoying her snack. Which she was very excited about. What was this wonderful treat??

Lima Beans!! Little Bit though that was such a great treat, and I know I didn't do anything special because they were just popped into the microwave from the freezer and she just mowed them up like they were candy. I don't know why the top photo is all squished.
Weird. Wonderful but weird.

Now this is a sampler

 I was looking around for something to work on while I wait for some fabrics to arrive for WIPs and I remembered I'd made a smaller tumbler quilt, flimsy, back in November using 2.5 charms cut into tumblers/thimbles from Seneca Falls and Scrapbook Garden. Well I managed to find it, which is a feat in and of itself, and popped a few stitches out and managed to add the little sampler packs from Butterfly Garden, Looking Back, and Collection for a Cause-Charity. I had to add two other fabrics from the stash because I found two of my squares where only half there so the numbers didn't work but they do now! I found the "cheddar" from Charity to be very bright but I think it'll be fine.

 I left the last few stitches out from each of the rows so I can add more later. These are not my normal fabrics but I do like them so I think this will just get bigger when I have "samplings".
 Right not the mini measured 26"*18" and has 13 rows of 15, so there are 195 fabrics.

 I'd though of adding the Blackbird Designs I had, both have Garden in the name, but I think they were just too bright for this one. For now this is going to be folded up and put away were I got it from, maybe I'll be able to find it next time too!

Happy/Sad Day

 Little Bit told me she had art today and "did Easter". Why is this happy/sad? It is one of the most coherent recalls of what happened in her day I've ever gotten, that didn't involve pushing/hitting or other such things, which may or may not have happened days/weeks earlier.
 And she got invited to a birthday party. This will be her second non-family birthday party and I don't feel bad in saying we will be buying a nice gift because this has made her sooo happy to be included.

Mini Verna and star sashing

 So ever since I started showing Mini Verna I've had a few questions on her. I was inspired after making a table runner in a similar style using Happy Zombie's pattern.

Below are instructions, or the math anyways, for using Mini Charms (2.5"), and using 3 charm packs (5") to make a large throw size.

Quick notes. Regardless of the size of the pieces the method is the same.
When sewing the rows together always press towards the square, this will make joining the rows together a snap.
Working with smaller pieces take more time then larger ones I find. Mostly because you don't have the room for error and they can be hard to line up as nicely. Paper piecing would be easier but since I don't EQ without the laptop I can't give you a template. I did make Mini Verna without it so it's doable.
These pictures were using mini charm sizes, so it's ok that they look smooshed. It works.

One sided sashing is this:

One sided sashing goes towards the edge of the quilt.

Two sided is this:

Mini Verna
5*8 setting
Cutting:
40 -mini charms, 2.5" squares.
67 -1.25x2.50, this is the sashing.
252- 1.25" squares, these are the stars points and star centers.

I used the stitch and flip method (if you need this explained email me or check out some of the tutorials online) to make 45 two sided sashing pieces, and the 22 one sided sashing pieces.
Arrange the charms in whatever way is pleasing to you. Sew the sashing and charms together. Sew sashing and star centers together into rows and then sew the rows together alternating Charm and Sashing rows.

I added a 1" border all around in the same fabric as the sashing. Baste, quilt, and bind!

Alternate Sizes/Setting

Mini Charms 6x7 setting
42 mini charms (2.5")
47 sashing pieces (2.25"x1.25")
   - 22 one sided sashing
   - 25 two sided sashing
177 1.25" squares
   -144 corner pieces for stitch and flip
   - 30 centers

2 Charm Packs 9x9 setting, 54"x54"  with no borders added.
81 Charm Squares (5"), all but 3 charms from 2-42 piece charm packs.
74 sashing pieces (2.5x5) [Use Jelly Roll strips for a scrappy sashing, in which case you'd need 10 strips, or 1yd of fabric]
    - 32 one sided sashing
    - 42 two sided sashing
296 2.50" squares (One of the Jelly Roll Basics would be a time saver, you'd need 18.5 strips, or 1.325 yards)
    - 232 for the corners of stitch and flip
    -64centers

3 Charm Packs 11x11 setting 64"x64" with no borders added.
121 Charm Squares (5"), all but 5 charms from 3-42 piece charm packs.
130 sashing pieces (2.5x5) [Use Jelly Roll strips for a scrappy sashing, in which case you'd need 17 strips, or 1yd of fabric]
    - 40 one sided sashing
    - 90 two sided sashing
540  2.50" squares (One of the Jelly Roll Basics would be a huge time saver, you'll need 34 strips, or 2.5yds of fabric)
    - 440 for the corners of stitch and flip
    -100 centers


I hope this helps...I know it may not be the most clear so feel free to e-mail me any questions or comment here.

Stuck but binding

 So I'm in a bit of limbo right now. I can't work on Nephew #2's quilt until I get the rest of the fabric in the mail, which could be tomorrow or next week depending on customs, and I don't have anything else sitting waiting. I don't really want to get out a UFO, they're buried and probably are because they need some amount of work. And I can't decide on starting something else. I have several ideas but no motivation or am lacking the necessary materials for the project.

 I sewed on the binding to Mini Verna finally. It's a very small binding but it looks good I think.

I've prepped the binding for Roundabout, even though I won't get around to it quilting it for while. Forgive the utilitarian picture.

I dug out the Clover Bias Tape maker, man does this make making the binding a breeze! And NO burnt fingers!! I will never make binding without it again. Seriously. It takes longer to cut the fabric then to get it ironed into double folded binding.

 I also used it to make the binding for one of the Rounneries table runners I made. I got it attached and am working on sewing it down in the evenings while DH is watching whatever crap is on that night. Sigh. I'm getting tired of TV. Seriously I want to chuck the thing most of the time. I either end up watching stuff I really don't enjoy, DH's stuff like sitcoms, or Little Bit's cartoon movies, over and over again. I don't think it would be so bad except whenever one or the other is home the tv is pretty much on. I HATE that. If you need noise turn on music. If you need to unwind fine, but all the time?? And neither of them ever thinks to ask if I want to watch anything. Little Bit is 6 so this is understandable..I wonder what DH's excuse is?
Ok I'm ranting so I'll stop now.
Off to get Little Bit from the bus.

And Roundabout is a flimsy (Year of Schnibbles March)

So note to self- Do not call yourself an idiot. Unless you want reassurances you are not :) Thank you all for your kindness about my brain lapse this weekend. I appreciate it so much. 

 So I kept at Roundabout because I knew if I stopped I wasn't going to finish this one. For some reason I just could not get going or enthused about it. The pattern was easy, the directions clear. But from choosing fabrics to actually doing it...well I just didn't love this one. Or maybe I'm just tired, though it may grow on me now that it's finished, well as finished as it's going to get for a little while. Anyway here it is.

  I amused myself when I was sewing the blocks together which DH watched March Madness and I thought about how I was having my own Madness. I went from 64 blocks to 32 to 16 etc. 

  Yes I am a geek lol.

   I don't like sewing long strips together if I can help it so I just kept turning my blocks into bigger blocks like you would a patch block.

 Including the light reds in the border I have around 30 fabrics in this quilt. I did not know I HAD 30 reds in my stash, and it's not all of them...well may be it is, the others had too much black or were more pink/orange then red to use. It's probably about 55" square as I widened both borders to balance the increased number of blocks.

 I think I like this better on point, which gives it a cobblestone look.

Or is that just me?

I also see more squares and diamonds then the "O" block, which makes me happy because I have to confess to not being a fan for some reason, which is odd because I like roundabouts. They are a great traffic thing. Really.

 DH though they were dumb until we went to Scotland and then he sent about an hour the first night we were there driving from one end of this little town to the other, turning around the roundabouts at each end. And once we were in the cities he really liked them, they make traffic so much more smooth, and once you know how to drive in one, safer.

 Anyways I have to get on with the job of being mom, chief washer, shopper, budget boss, cook, and gopher.

And I go round and round

A nice progression don't you think?

See those pieces under my blocks?
They are there because I, my friends, am an idiot.
Ok, not an idiot. Just challenged at times.
 You see this quilt is going to be 48*48, assuming I don't play with the border size. Somehow this translated into my poor brain as 48 blocks, not the 64 I actually need for the 8*8 setting.
Now because I was a good girl and followed Carrie's instructions this is not a big deal. I have the pieces, sewn and ready. I just need to make 16 more blocks. I'm not sure they'll end up as scrappy as these ones but they'll be fine I'm sure.

I did something I have never done before on this block as well. I didn't try to control the fabrics, I just stuck my hand in the bin, and as long as it wasn't already in the block it went in. This has been both terrifying and liberating. The blocks seem to have turned out well, and basically balanced. I'll see when I put them all together.

 Thanks everyone for your kind words on my Le Jardin Block Three. I was so terrified of messing that block up but like so many things I'm trying to not let that stop me.

Follow Up

First go check out Green Fairy Quilts. Judi has an AMAZING deal going today for National Quilt Day.

To see what I got down yesterday for Friday Night Sew-In check the post below.

I've finished up sewing the connector corners to the strips. This is a lot of strips.

Can you tell the difference from earlier? No? Well there are more then double the number. I'm half tempted to go stretch them out down the hallway just to see how long they would go.

Friday Night Sew-In Results

Like most times I didn't get as much accomplished as I'd hoped but I do have some things to show.

 But first a story. I had had all the pieces prepared for Block Three but never got them sewn down so I decided that I has going to do that first. Not a big problem. There are a lot of pieces which meant way more chance to muddle up the background so I only sewed together what had to be and left the others off s I could trim etc as necessary. While I was sewing I started to get worried about running out of thread. As you can see that was a legitmate concern.

But I made it. Then I measured my background. It had shrunk up a touch but nothing to be concerned about, or that's what I'm telling myself. So I sewed on the sides but when I went to sew the top strip I realized I had cut the sides 1/2" too small. Oh pooh. But seeing as this is a BOM from Fat Quarter Shop I had enough fabric to cut a second set of strips. Except I cut these ones 2" too short!! Aaaagh!! Except being from FQS I had enough fabric in one of the fabrics to cut another strip which I actually got right, for the second one I just sewed on the extra fabric and I lined it up so that the seams of the ground strip and my oopsy strip matched.

So this is my brillance. But in the end this is the result.

Which I'm pretty happy with.

I also got all the pieces cut for my enlarged Roundabout. I forgot to take a pic of the 300+ white squares but you can imagine.

And I started sewing.

This is as far as I got last night before I just had to stop. Hopefully I will spend today working on them. And yes that is the disaster area I sew in, and most of the time just move to another pile so we can eat at the table. My moment of truth ;)

Happy Quilt Day Everyone!

And getting going

 For this month's Friday Night Sew In. I've been cheating a bit, I started cutting earlier today, so it's more like a Day Long Sew In.

I'm working on Roundabout, I decided to go with the red/white and make it 48"*48". Which to me is a somewhat usable size.
 I'm also hopefully going to get Block Three from Le Jardin sewn down.

Seeing as tomorrow is National Quilting Day (US), I figure I'll try and carry on into tomorrow too and maybe get my Schnibble finished.

Ok I lied

 I did get one thing done yesterday. I finished block 2 from the Jelly Roll Quilt Along. It's another pretty block. Forgive the picture, without my laptop I can't play around with the picture.

I think one of the reasons I have trouble with mystery quilts is I like to change things to suit me but you can't really do that with a mystery because you don't know what the final look is, so you can't really know what would look better to you now can you? That and I have control issues lol.

 Little Bit is off to the dentist today to have a cavity dealt with. Wishes us luck.

Computer Issues...AGAIN

 So the laptop decided to stop working AGAIN. I've unplugged it and am going to let it sit for a day or two. Last time it randomly started working again so here's hoping.

 This week will probably not be very productive or chatty for me. Little Bit is on her March Break and will be home this week, well only until Wednesday evening when she goes to see Bio dad.  I'm also very dizzy whenever I'm upright so I doubt I'll be doing anything require...well balance, straight vision etc...so most anything. And this week has appointments for everyone it seems. Little Bit is at the dentist Tuesday, I have an infusion Thursday, and the pups go in to the vet on Friday. This is also going to be expensive lol.

 The Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along, (long enough name for you?) has block two posted today! I'm so excited about this quilt along. I really think it'll turn out great. I already know I want to make block one again, maybe do a whole quilt of it. Hopefully I'll be able to get a picture if I get it done this week. Remember if you finish your block to post it too flickr.

Ugh

 Little Bit hasn't slept well lately, which translates into me sleeping very poorly. I haven't had more then 1 1/2 hours of sleep at one time in the last 4 or 5 days, and even when I've tried to nap during the day it hasn't worked out. I'm getting very cranky, and not horribly bright.

 I still haven't decided between Eden and the Red/White. The votes are pretty even, with Eden getting a little push because of spring. The thing with using Eden...can anyone guess?? LOL It means I can't make it bigger without buying more fabric. And 32" seems such an in between size, not really big enough to be useful but too big to hang or whatnot. However I think my mom would like the colours and she has bigger everything, couches, spaces on walls, tables etc. So maybe do it in Eden and give it to her for Mother's Day?
It's getting hard to decide on fabric for these Schnibbles, and I'm not as big of a fan of many of the new patterns and that seems to be all that are being chosen.

 I have half of the QST, or hourglass, done for Nephew #2's quilt and ordered some yardage and another charm pack to finish the top. This is (84) 4" blocks.

 Apparently I also didn't clean up the lintiness off my cutting mat before setting this down lol.
I'm hoping it'll be similar in size to Tumbling Dino's but I don't remember how big that was and I've packed the quilt up to be shipped already. It's looking like it will be 57*64-ish.  Yes, I know that is no baby quilt, but these babies come from TALL men. DH is 6'6'', and the twins are 6'4'' or so. I figure they'll be tall early too, or at least there is a good chance of it.

  I know I'm sort of in a funk because I still haven't finished this month's block from "Le Jardin". The pieces are all glue basted, and the backgrounds are cut and sewn. I just haven't had it in me to lay the pieces out and sew them down.

 Soon I promise myself, because this is not a BOM you want to fall behind in. The applique would become very intimidating, instead of just challenging. At least for me.

Decisions, Decisions

 I'm having a rough time figuring out what fabrics to use for Roundabout. I've narrowed it to Eden

or reds from my stash, I have a few more too.

What do you think?

Not a lot going on

 I have to admit to being pretty lazy this week. I haven't gotten much of anything but laundry, dishes, and groceries done. I did wash and dry Tumbling Dino's. It is looking pretty cuddly.

 I've got a few hourglass blocks done for Nephew #2's quilt. I'm thinking I'll applique some sheep on it to give it something different. Again I'm using a slightly older line so it's harder to find, at decent prices, and with decent shipping. But soooo cute.

Have you seen Sweetwater's line that will be coming out end of Summer/early Fall???

It's called Pure and is super delicious. I WILL be getting some of this, hopefully a lot of it!

Mail did come today! I got my Roundabout Pattern for this month's Schnibble! Hurray no last minute sewing or begging the cutting of others while I wait.  Though now I have to decide on fabric! Oh the things we must do...lol

Binding Done!

 I've finished the binding on Tumbling Dino's!! It's taken me all week, which is why I haven't been blogging, I haven't done anything lol.

You can see DH's stash of games, some are Little Bit's. We have a LOT of video games.
I'll probably post another picture once the quilt is washed, and hopefully a bit crinkly and cuddly and then this will be shipped to NC and I can get started on Nephew #2's quilt, which I have some time as he's not born yet.

 I have the pieces for the BOM cut out, and have to glue baste still. That will probably have to wait until the end of the week since I have some organizing to do, which is a dirty word to me because I'm not very good at this but I got a two drawer filing cabinet and am hoping to clean up all the papers hanging around the apartment, and the bottom drawer will be for Little Bit's art supplies.
Wish me Luck!

Jelly Roll Quilt Along

 So I couldn't wait to get started once I decided I liked the colour combo. I don't know for sure it's going to work but I decided to go for it. And here is block one.

I'm thinking of....wait for it....changing this block a bit! Don't you think a blue flower would look great in the middle of the nine patch? With a red center? I'm think it would balance the brightness of the blue.

The next block pattern will be released on March 15th, I know I'll be ready!

Jelly Roll Quilt Along

 First off it seems I hit a nerve with the frenemie issue!  Sounds like we all have them. Thank you for your commiserations, and advice. I'm going to fix the binding, and I'll show pictures later.

 I've been waffling about doing the Jelly Roll Quilt Along over at Moose On Porch Quilts. I have a couple of Jelly rolls that I could use. So I finally bit the bullet and got my Sanctuary roll out. I knew I didn't want to use white for a background because there are so many white prints in the line. So I hit the fabric store while Little Bit was in tutoring. What do you think?

What do you think? The blue is actually a bit brighter then in the pictures but it's the best I could get at twilight.

A frenemie!

Yes I have a frenemie, a friend who is also an enemy. This is a common relationship type among girls. And I think spawned the saying "with friends like that who needs enemies?"

 So who is this person? Well it's not a person. It's this!

 A nice sharp seam ripper. She's normally a friend, a bit boring but she'll help you out when you make an oopsy. Well this time she was a bit too sharp. I was trying to pull out some stitching from the binding and instead of cutting the thread she cut the binding!! I'm looking at what to do now. Do I just whip stitch it and hope for the best? Sew on another piece of binding and cover it up?
Any thoughts?

Mail!

Hehehe..one of the best things about a BOM is getting the package every month in the mail. So two weeks after it was shipped here is Le Jardin Block Three from Fat Quarter Shop. Where else do actually like the bill???

This will not last here, like this, long.
Are you sick of this fabric yet? I'm not! lol