Mid September Already!?!

I'm not sure what happened to this week--it flew by so fast! 

Yesterday I had a long road trip to celebrate my aunt's 95th birthday. 

I sure hope I inherited some of those longevity genes! 

Last Monday our guest speaker was Deanne Eisenman. Deanne has written a couple books for Martingale and is currently working on a book for Kansas City Star books on the history of applique--I can't wait for that one! She also designs patterns for her company Snuggles Quilts (named after her cat who helps her work on her quilts). Her patterns are scrappy and most have applique--two of my favorite things!!

This is Through the Seasons--all four versions come in the pattern.

Garden Path pattern set.

Basket Banter includes four seasonal baskets!

Ack! I didn't buy this pattern--what was I thinking?
These three table toppers are from the Scrappy Gardens pattern--
There's a Scrappy Gardens Too pattern--equally cute!

There are also large scrappy pieced quilt patterns--this one is Scrappy Happy.

Scrappy North Stars
I did buy this pattern--love it! That's Deanne telling us about the quilt. 

This one had very cool quilted circles.
I think it's called Paper Chain

This is from the Scrappy Runners pattern that we used in class on Tuesday.
It comes with 2 versions in one pattern.

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From Scrappy Runners Too.
More buyer's regret--I should have picked this one up--I love the little geese!
I could see this as a fun throw size.

Country Home Sweet Home comes with four inter-changeable panels.
Did I mention that all of these patterns (even the multiple project patterns) are $9.00 or less?

This is my finished Scrappy Runner: Bullseye version.
I used mostly fabrics from Jo Morton's Savannah line along with some scraps. 

In class,  we did our piecing in the morning.
After lunch, Deanne taught us a needle turn technique for the applique.
Lucky you...she has an applique tutorial on her blog HERE!
Scroll to July 29th through August 9th. 

I plan to get this quilted soon. Even though I haven't  turned on my HQ16 since we installed all of my upgrades over Labor Day weekend, I'm hoping to see a huge improvement in my quilting abilities--ha! 

Rainy Days!

We've had a couple rainy days, so I was able to do some catch up sewing.
These are the September Chicken Scratch blocks from Country Threads.

September Dixie Diary Star block.

September Dixie Diary Heart block.

I finished the 13th freebie block from Primitive Gatherings.
I'm ready to start on the finishing kit that arrived on Friday. 

The Family block for Words To Live By. 

I'm taking a class tomorrow (more details to follow soon). We were instructed to cut our fabrics, but it seemed like there would be a lot of piecing to do in class, so I made the components that go into the 14 blocks needed for the project.
We will be doing some applique onto the pieced project.
These look like string blocks but they are actually half square triangles with flipped corners. 

This is how the blocks will look when they are put together.
I like the little shoo-fly it makes in the center-cute!
I'm using some of my new Jo Morton Savannah fabrics.
I guess if I get my piecing done early in class it will give me more time to visit!

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Flying Goose Ruler Tutorial/The Blocks are in the Mail!

I felt like a huge weight had been lifted when I finally got those swap blocks in the mail on Wednesday morning.

These are extras since some have dropped out of the swap.
I plan to use them as quilt labels. 

I figured it would be best to do the signature first in case I messed up (and I did!) while signing the block center.
I needed to sign 60 small blocks and 60 larger blocks, so I printed out my "signature" and drew a template around it. Then I could slide the fabric into place and trace my name and location. I pressed 4 pieces at a time onto freezer paper to stabilize before adding the signature. It went surprisingly fast. 

 The small block was a 4.5" snowball. I got those sewn up a couple weeks ago and last week got the "flippy" corners pressed out, trimmed the extra fabric from under the triangles and then squared them up to size. 

The larger block is another story. I'm not sure of the block name, but it's basically a central signature square surrounded by flying geese with cornerstones. 

Thankfully, someone in the swap group mentioned the Eleanor Burns flying goose ruler. 

These rulers were new to me, but I've since purchased the Small Flying Geese Ruler (the one I use here) and the Mini Ruler Set that has 2 FG rulers and a fussy cut ruler. 

Each Flying Geese ruler has 2 sizes on it.  

You start with 2 squares--one smaller and centered. Mark and stitch a quarter inch from the center line.

Cut on the center marked line. 

Open and press to the larger piece.

Layer with opposite fabrics together, matching corners.
Note that the previous seams don't match up.

Mark and stitch as before.

Again cut at the center line.

See that little mark at the bottom of the triangle? You make a clip there.

That clip allows the seam allowances to be pressed in opposite directions.
Do this to both of the pieces you just sewed. 

BOOM! You just made 4 flying geese and you only had to sew two seams! 

Okay, I lied. You do have a little more work to do.
You need to cut them apart.
You could use a regular ruler, but Eleanor has a bunch of these flying geese rulers that make it SO easy. 

I offset this so you could see the line, but you would line it up exactly and cut around the ruler--
easy, peasy and your geese are perfect!

There is some fabric waste, but if you did flipped corners,
you would have also have waste and your goose probably wouldn't be as perfect as these are.

Okay...now BOOM--4 flying geese!
You can see Eleanor in action using the ruler HERE

This is the block set up on my design board. 

The small blocks went to California and the larger blocks (plus one small block) went to Virginia.

Gotta Have: Rolling Work Station!

Last January I attended a fun retreat hosted by Helen Thorn. One of the gals brought a Plano Pro Rolling Work Station. She had all her tools, projects and a secret stash of chocolate--all on wheels. Cool!

Of course, we all had to run out and buy one of our own when Maureen let us know they were on sale. Since there's only one Menard's in my area, they sold out before I got there, but I was able to special order one at the sale price--whew! 

This photo was captured from the Menard's website.
Hurry--the work station is on sale until the 15th of September! 

The lid has a handy cup holder.

Under the top lid is a roomy storage area.

A front panel drops down to reveal three drawers. 

At the bottom is a large bin perfect for stowing the projects you plan to work on at retreat.

This metal bar slides down the front to secure everything while in transit--don't want to lose any of those quilting goodies! 

At each side are these holes in case you need to bungee cord more stuff onto the top of the cart.

You can wind your power cord onto these toggles on the side.

The securing bar fits on the opposite side when not in use.
Notice the nice big wheels.

When it's not packed up for a retreat, I use mine for a "hexie" station.
(The Nonni's biscotti trays fit nicely in the drawers to stash stuff neatly.)
The little ruler boxes are from Temecula Quilt Company. 

When I need to work on my hexagons, I can roll the station to my sewing chair and use the top surface as a table. 

Tip: Don't load so many heavy things in the workstation that you can't get it in or out of your car!!