"What I'm Doing" Wednesday!

I'm feeling pretty smug this week. 

I finally got around to reserving my Windows 10 update (free for Windows 8 users depending on the device), found new Anti Virus to replace my expiring (and way to pricey to renew) Norton 360, chose a Medicare supplement package within the grace period (whew!), and finished listening to Serial (that the rest of America listened to a year ago--yeah, I'm slow!).

I loved the Serial podcasts, because I enjoy programs like Dateline and 48 Hours. It was like having one of those shows coming along with me during my morning walk. I have to say that I am completely up in the air though--did he do it? I went back and forth so many times and I'm still not even sure if I think Adnan is guilty or not. I'm looking forward to the new podcasts that are said to start up again this fall--I hope they have found some new evidence!

So, today, I am giving myself a refresher course in using the Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star tool. I am scheduled to teach a class using the ruler this coming Saturday at Gruber's in Waite Park.

I've had so much fun sewing using this ruler.
I love Lemoyne Stars and this is one awesome tool--it makes sewing the stars so easy to construct with no Y seams!

Is this 3" star not the cutest ever???

I've also been playing with some of the other types of stars you can make with the ruler. This is the Banded Lemoyne Star--pretty cool! , You can give Gruber's a call to sign up--it should be a fun day!!
Linking with WIP's on Wednesday HERE and Let's Be Social HERE

Whoo--Hoo!

Once I decided on a quilting plan, I couldn't stop until I had my September UFO finished! 

I'll have better photos later, but I'm so happy to have the majority of the finishing process completed.

The plan for today is to get the binding made and attached so I can do hand stitching (Slow Sunday Stitching!) this evening.

I've basted enough hexagons for one of the full stars for Stars in the Garden. 

I laid them out face down on my ironing board and covered them with a square of freezer paper (shiny side down) and then pressed them to the paper. I think I will do this for the other four stars. It will make it easier to rearrange colors, if needed, before constructing the stars. It may make it easier for "take along sewing" too--we'll see! 

Linking with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching HERE

Acquisitions Confessional

 I totally indulged in some retail therapy and bought a whole stack of fat quarters---not on sale! 

I guess that means I really liked wanted them, right?

Modern Background Paper by Zen Chic--not my usual type of fabrics, but so fun! 

These are my favorites of the bunch.
 The Paper colorway is all light--the Ink colorway, coming out later will be darker.

This bundle of FQ's was more in my wheelhouse and they were on sale--Yay!

And jelly rolls were such a good deal I had to get them. Okay... I needed to add something to my cart to get that free shipping--haha!

From another retailer, I added yardage of some fabrics to my cart (to get free shipping again!).
Too bad the one thing I really wanted is either back ordered or cancelled--hard to tell from the invoice. At least I still got the free shipping!

I have been doing some sewing too!
I've finished the August Buttermilk Basin Block....

...and finished one of the two "half" stars I need for Stars in the Garden.
I've been watching/listening to the Civil War on PBS every night, so have managed to get a lot of hand work done.

This is what I should be working on--my UFO for this month. I've been doing everything else but quilting this top--even cleaning!!

Linking with Needle and Thread Thursday HERE and WIP's Be Gone HERE

Scrappy Holiday Sewing

I finished my five clue seven ThimbleCreek Mystery  blocks over the Labor Day Weekend. 

The hourglass units needed to be squared up, and I found my Bloc Loc ruler a great help. The seam fits into the channel in the ruler and then the corners of the units need to intersect at the 2 1/2" lines and at the outside corners. I also kind of double checked (before cutting!) by making sure the X landed in the middle of that half inch square in the center....

and then trim!

Then the ruler and the trimmed unit both get turned, lined up again, this time with the trimmed edges on the 2 1/2" lines. Look at how fine those ruler lines are--makes it so easy to see that you are in the right spot! Trim again.

Perfect!

To be more efficient, I trim all the units for the blocks on one side, then I will turn the whole pile along with the ruler. I have used my Bloc Loc ruler for half square triangles (it's intended use), and it works great for that also. The ruler comes in lots of different sizes, but I have found the 6 1/2" size works fine for small triangles as well as larger ones--and it may be easier to handle too.  

So here are my five scrappy blocks finished--they go together so easily if everything starts out the right size--lol! I'm having lots of fun putting together the fabrics for this mystery!

And I am joining the Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade HERE!
There are lots of adorable pincushions--take a look!

Linking with Scraptastic Tuesday HERE

A Quick Slow Sewing Update

I'm not sure how this week went by so fast--I feel like I didn't really accomplish much in the way of sewing.

I made all of the hexagon path segments and have started adding them to the flowers.

Only two left to finish--then it's on to the star segments.
I only need five of those!

And if I get really ambitious, I can always start the hand quilting on this little project!

Linking with Slow Sunday Stitching HERE
and WIP's Be Gone HERE

A Little Piecing and a Plan

I had fallen behind on the ThimbleCreek Halloween mystery blocks, so I decided I better do some machine piecing before I get too far hopelessly behind. 
These are from Clue Five, and went together pretty easily. 

I love how the Clue Six blocks look like they are framed.
Clue Seven arrived in the email box this morning--I'm planning to get them done this week while the Halloween fabric is still strewn all over the cutting table.

The Clue Six blocks are constructed similar to the Candy Corn blocks and go together like a nine patch once all the parts are made--pretty easy if you square up after each step.
Joe says that there won't be a new clue next week. That mean there will be plenty of time to get caught up if you are making the blocks!

Last Friday was our Lakes Area Machine Quilter's meeting.
 Marcia has been cleaning out her sewing area and I was the lucky recipient of one of her rulers, a centering tool and one of her border pantographs--yay! 

She also brought along some Quilts of Valor kits--I brought this one home with me. All I need to do is load it up and quilt it. After quilting, it will be returned to the awesome Brainerd QOV group where they will bind it and make sure it gets donated to a wounded soldier. 

 I also plan to get this top quilted as my September UFO--one of my nine patch quilts from an exchange. It's not very big, so I don't think it will take too long once I decide on a quilting design.
Linking with A Lovely Year of Finishes HERE

Slow Finishing

I'm still working on the path hexagons for Stars in the Garden, but I also want to get my little Temecula Instagram Summer Sew Along project completed now that the finishing instructions have been posted.

I auditioned so many fabrics before coming back to this blue--you know I love blue! This is just a 2" strip with the body of the quilt laid on it (I used tiny dots of basting glue to hold it in place).

Then the hexagons are appliqued to the 2" strip to make a small border.
I haven't removed the outer rows of hexagon papers yet, but I will get those plucked out later today. 

On the short ends, the instructions were to trim off the hexagons to make a straight edge. I am going to leave them as is and also applique a 2" blue strip to each end so there is a border all the way around. I didn't have the heart to chop off those hexies!

I think it will look alright and I am happy with the blue--I plan to use the same fabric for the binding-- if I get that far. I'm going to attempt hand quilting this since it's very small--hopefully the wrist will hold out!
Linking with Slow Sunday Stitching HERE