Category Archives: Signature Swap

Sunday Stash Report & a Flimsy or Two

Last Sunday, during my Virtual Quilt Retreat, I finished up the 6-1/2″ signature squares for my block.  Woohoo!

Yesterday, with the exception of the borders, I finished piecing Son’s Falling Charms quilt.  I have an additional 2 rows pieced that will go into the backing, plus another 4 blocks that will go into the border.  I have it folded up and stashed away to take to work with me on Tuesday so I can put it up for a photo-op, and pick out border and backing fabrics, and grab some batting.  I have a feeling I’ll continue with the plain black, though.  I’ll share the photo Tuesday or Wednesday.

Then this morning, I pieced together my JMLW Caramel Corn.   I have the backing and binding picked out from my stash, I just need to grab some batting on Tuesday for it as well, so the binding and backing fabric will come out of next week’s stash report.   I’m not completely happy with the placement of the blocks, but this was the first time I have appliqued anything, and the blocks are on point.  Two lessons in a tiny quilt.  I can see myself making this one again, in a table topper size.

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So between the signature squares and Son’s quilt I did rather well in the “fabric out” department this week 🙂

Fabric added this week: 0
Fabric out this week:  7  1/4
Fabric added this year (April – present):  104  1/4
Fabric out this year (April – present):  41  7/8

I completed a project

The Virtual Quilting Retreat this past weekend proved very successful for me.  I managed to complete all of the 56 signature swap blocks!  I have now proclaimed myself an expert at flying geese and will just put it out there that I would not have been able to make them so excellent without my Wing Clipper I ruler by Deb Tucker.

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In October, I will be joining the Civil War Club at A Quilter’s Oasis.  We will be making all but one of the quilts from The Blue and the Gray book by Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene.  The first item we’re making is full of hourglass blocks and we’ll be using the Tucker Trimmer I, and I can’t wait!  I plan on adding the Wing Clipper II to my tool stash a little down the road.

I’ve spent this morning tidying my sewing room, and cleaning off my cutting table, and now there is a 4-yards piece of black Kona cotton waiting to be cut into 2 1/2″ strips for Son’s quilt.  You can see the plaids I’m using in the background.  I thought about cutting it on my AccuQuilt but since it’s Son’s quilt I’ve decided to cut it all by hand.

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Sunday Stash Report

I ended up not buying any fabric at my JMLW Club meeting since I already own 1/2-yard cuts of the line the instructor used in her sample quilt; however, my quilt store marked several bolts of repro fabric down 40% and I bought 2 EOBs and 2 2-yard cuts from some of them.  They’ll make excellent backings for some of my smaller quilts in my WIP pile.  That purchase pushed me over the 100 yards in point.

Yesterday’s Virtual Quilt Retreat got off to a slow start for me since I had an almost forgotten pedicure appointment.  I managed to finish 7 blocks though and am back at it this morning.

Fabric added this week:  7  3/8
Fabric out this week: 1  1/4
Fabric added this year (April – present):  104  1/4
Fabric out this year (April – present):  34  5/8

I’m hosting a Virtual Quilting Retreat!

First, let me thank you for your comments about my dehydration episode.  Just this few days have I felt back to normal.  I have been almost anal about drinking and wag a bottle of Gatorade with me to work and have one stowed in my car.

Last month, while visiting my friends in Nashville, we talked a little bit about how fun it would be to be able to sit and sew together.  I had read about a virtual quilting retreat and asked them if they would be interested in doing the same thing.  Our first retreat is this weekend!

I had originally only planned to sew today – and even goofed and scheduled a pedicure for this morning – since  I had plans for tomorrow, but those were canceled this morning, due to my friend being ill 🙁 .  I am working on my signature swap blocks.  I have 34 of 56 completed (9 of those I just finished ironing and squaring up).  That’s 224 flying geese!!!!

Here’s a quick snap of just a few (I’m making them completely from my scraps.)

DSC01616Now to see how many of the remaining 22 I get finished over the weekend.

If you’re interested in participating, here’s the way it works.  Tell the other members of your household that you are going on a quilting retreat in your sewing space.  This will be easier said that done if you have little ones 😉  Tell the big people in your house that you do not want to be bothered while you’re in your space.  Either have someone else prepare meals, cook ahead, or crock pot it.  Today we’re having already prepared lasagna and Mister will make salad to go along with it.  I plan on sewing up until dinner time then will settle in with some stitching after that.  Tomorrow  I’m planning on throwing chicken in the crock pot and “bbq-ing” it, then all I’ll have to do is add my sides, but I plan on ending my retreat at that time  😀

This will be once a month and the participants decide on the weekend. I’ve set up a Facebook Group and there will be a poll put up during Virtual Quilters Retreat to pick the next month’s weekend. If you can’t participate both days, then pick one day!  If you’d like to join in, send me an email.  The link is in the right side column.

Now, back to my cutting table.

 

Sunday Stash Report

This week has nothing but fabric going out.  Not much, but still, all going out.  I’ve been spending the majority of my needle-in-hand time working on a couple of cross stitch projects, but I did manage to do a little sewing yesterday on my signature swap blocks.

A lot of cutting, and a couple of sewn together blocks.  This week I’m only counting what I’ve already sewn together, even though I normally count it as “out” when I cut it.

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Fabric added this week:  ZERO
Fabric out this week:  1/3 yd
Fabric added this year (April – present):  90  7/8
Fabric out this year (April – present):  22

Fiddling

I am not in the mood to sew today.  I went to bed last night trying to figure out why the second signature block I made, doing it exactly the same way I did the first, is too small.   I tend to think on things for a while when I’m trying to puzzle things out, and thought I had it figured out this morning.  I changed the way it was ironed, hoping that would help.  It did.  Some.  I suspect it is the flying geese that’s throwing it off.  So, instead, I fiddled!

The signature blocks are made with 4 flying geese and I’ve never been expert at them.  So I decided to fiddle around with my scraps and a new tool.  Deb Tucker’s Wing Clipper.  I haven’t watched the video yet, but I have followed the written directions that come with the ruler, step by step, using some of the scraps from the block I shared yesterday.

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The larger ones I trimmed using the ruler. Excellent and perfect…hear my heart sing!  The smaller ones, I trimmed free-handed and they are not perfect, but they made me go “awwww.”  I have no idea what I’ll do with the smaller ones, but the larger ones I’m going to save for a miniature quilt.  I plan on adding more of the larger size using the scraps from the rest of the signature blocks I need to make, plus if I mess up, I can use the Wing Clipper to trim then down to a size that is perfect.

Here’s where I’m bogged down, though.  I am so math challenged, which is so funny to me since there is so much math in quilting!  😆 I can’t seem to figure out what size squares to start with to end up with the 2 x 3-1/2″ size geese I need for the signature block!  I know that they need to go with the 2″ squares that I’m cutting for the corner pieces (brown in my previous block), but I just can’t get my brain to go to where I need to start to get them to where I can cut them down to that size.

I did see in the comments where someone said they were trying to figure out where to start to get to the same size, so I may try emailing Deb Tucker and asking her.

The other thing I have been fiddling with lately is a Quilter’s FabriCalc.  We have them at work, and I brought one home to read the manual and learn how to use it.  I love it! and ordered one for use at home and am expecting it to arrive any minute now.

Some days contain good and bad

I hate growing older.  There are so many things that can go wrong to cut into precious “to-do” time.  I’m not a hypochondriac by any stretch of the imagination but I do worry sometimes about illnesses suffered by long gone family members and how it can affect my own health.  I also dislike strongly not being able to talk to family members about my own health concerns.  My family has never been one to share things, plus I live very far away from them (my choice).  Sigh.  I also tend to let my imagination get away with me sometimes when the doctor orders certain tests.  Anyway, I got my blood work results back today from a couple of weeks ago and I’m a-okay in everything.  There are a couple of areas that I’m trying to make better but it was a rough couple of months and I may have splurged on some sugar a bit here and there 😉  so instead of blood sugar levels being better they were the same as they were the last time she tested.  However, she also ordered some more blood work and ordered me a referral based on a conversation we had this morning following her “How have you been feeling” question.  I hate getting older.

So that was the bad part of my day.

I’ve spent the majority of the rest of the day in my studio.  I had hoped to finish up on the gift but I don’t have enough of the binding material to finish.  I’ll pick up some more Tuesday when I go to work.

Speaking of work, I’m having fun with it!  This past Tuesday I cut so much fabric for customers that I truly thought my arm was going to fall off at the end of the day.  The next day it was sore!  I’m still doing a little following around, but am feeling more comfortable helping customers on my own.  Got my first paycheck too 😉

But I digress.  After I ran out of material for my binding, I turned to cutting fabric and piecing a signature block for an exchange I’m signed up for.  I’ve never done anything like this before and it’s rather intimidating to think that I need to make 59 of these 6 1/2″ blocks.

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I have a couple of baskets of scraps I’m using so none of them will look the same.  I have until September to get them all finished and I’m trying to make 5 a day.

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