Fixed It and Would You?

This week, I managed to fix the spools blocks. (It was an easy one or three.) They all sport a new "thread" to be tall enough to fit in the quilt. (see last post to know more about this adventure)

Before and ...

after.

Now to fix the bigger problem.

Jacob's! 

If you don't know about my latest migraine, trial, challenge, you can read it here.

This quilt, which had more than one sewing machine making the blocks way back when is totally crooked.

It measures 86 inches long. Every column!
The rows are something else.
The bottom ones are 60 1/4".
The middle ones are 60".
The top ones are 60 3/4". Yeah! I had so much fun. At one point, I considered taking it all apart as I did with Field of Poppies (a.k.a. Good Fortune). But I restrained myself.

I spent 4 hours, measure, unstitch, measure, sew, measure, unst....(Good enough!) and calculate how large the blue border had to be in order to fit the pieced border.

I sew the blue border, added the pieced border and

ended up short. What! Went over the calculations again until I realized that I hadn't cut the corner of the blue border at the beginning and it was 1/4 longer than what it should have been. Unstitch the pieced border, cut the blue one properly, sew back the pieced border. Thank goodness for Super Seams Ripper. I distanced some blocks to reach my goal. Phew. My calculations were right. Yes. Finally got it working!! Whoop Whoop! On to the next side.

On a very windy Friday, I tried to take a few pictures. Most of them look like that. I hung it sideways because it is too long.

For a fraction of a second, it behaved and I was able to snap this picture. I love this quilt. The blue border looks very weird to me but it is what it is.


Now, would you add another border to frame the pieced one?

Or would you just leave it to the binding to frame it?

I think I'll go play with pink. It's less stressful, lol.

Enjoy!
And thanks for all your suggestions. You know I appreciate them all.

;^)


Joining
Sarah at Confession of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Denise at For the Love of Geese
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

I Had To Laugh

Blocks freshly pressed from this morning.

I must be fully awake this morning compared to other mornings because I have FINALLY noticed that the spool blocks ...

(Aren't they cute?)

... measure 8.5 inches X 8 inches. Yes, you did read that right. Lately, every thing I start, I have to redo. But this time, I had to laugh. Gosh! It's the third one I make and not once have I noticed anything wrong with this block? That's laughable! At least I only have three to redo and not like an entire quilt! lol.

After I am done fixing the spools, I'll start on the light and bright green of January and I will do it right this time. ;^D

Have a great one.

;^)

Joining Angela at So Scrappy
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Whatever Wednesday May 20, 2020

It not quilting but it's still fabric.

I had an inspiration a few weeks ago and started to "design" a template for our ID card holder at the office.

The ones given by the corporation are made of plastic. With the everyday use and the ups and down of our weather, the plastic tends to become brittle. No one wants to lose their ID, so I thought fabric. It won't break down in a year or two.

So I made one for me. Orange of course.

Front

Back

Not bad, but there's some areas that could be better. The plastic on the front comes from bags our toys are wrapped in when purchased.

When I showed pictures to my colleagues some asked for one, so I changed the pattern a little and did two more.

Front

Back

That's all I have to show for now. See you again soon.

;^)

Dark Green Saturday and Whatever

Another week has gone by. Another week where I haven't done much on anything in particular. Like most of you, I am restless.

Played with hexagons a little bit. One side is done and working my way through the last row. I decided to use the same fabric as it was already out. :^D

back side of the hexagon quilt

Worked on Jacob's Ladder but not enough to mention it. Thank you SO much for all your comments on my last post. I truly appreciate every single one. Some were eye openers for me. I was really down and out about it. The difference between the block's units and the border units is 1/8". Not much of a difference but after 30 units, the difference was too much math for my poor restless head. I didn't feel like sewing the border on as I knew the bottom wouldn't line up with the quilt and the Super Seam Ripper would have to come rescue me once again. You know when you just know you are heading towards failure? Yep, that was me. :(

Anywho!
I found a few scraps and I just had to play with them. And that was FUN.

This is a maple leaf block. It was ALMOST 4 inches before finish. It was given in a bag of scraps a long time ago. Don't remember where it came from but I like it, with all its quirky-ness.

The choice of fabric is not the greatest as it is hard to see the leaf, the HSTs are crocked and it has a point issue but I like it. Maybe it was the first block a little girl did, or a tester for some new machine, who knows?

It lost some major points when I paired it up with a backing ...

... to finally give a purpose. It is now my newest pincushion. I found a scrap of leaf print and fussy cut one leaf so the back looks like this:

So, one tiny little piece of scrap got used up. Whoop Whoop! No? Lol.

I got some dark green out and made 9 Patch blocks because I'm restless and can't concentrate on anything for long. Is it the funny (not "haha" funny!) weather or is it the confinement that makes us feel this way? Either way, I'm suffering from it too.

One green is actually blue but pairs up beautifully with green ...

... and blue. I really like this little bit of scrap.

Since I found another bag of blue scraps, it lead to ...

... more blue sewing. There's even a dark green in there too.

And some whatever because we can all use more blocks, right?

Eighteen more 9 Patch added to the lot. But how many is there in the lot?
Let's count.

127 in the sewing capsule plus 5 already sewn in a block plus 18 done this week brings us to 150. Do I finally have enough? The pattern calls for 229 9-Patch units but it is too big (75"X 75") for me. If I do a 4 X 6 layout, I need 150 9-Patch units.  Really?!!  I'm right on the dot?  Wow! I'll keep making them since  a- it's fun; b- I'll need a good variety; c- there's always another cute 9-Patch quilts I want to make, lol.

Oh! Another thing I did.
I did some masks. Aren't we tired of hearing about masks? I am too but it is the newest fashion that no one can live without, literally! There's a lot of patterns out there but this is my favourite one.

I like it because the shape makes it easier to breath if you wear glasses (you don't fog up your lenses) and the ties wrap around your head and at the back of your neck like this. It doesn't bother the ears. Very easy to make. (I used shoe laces for ties.) The sides are open to slide in another layer or mask for the professional people.

You can get the pattern here. 

That's all for now, friends.

Stay safe because it's not over until the hospitals open their doors again.

;^)

Joining
Angela at So Scrappy
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Kathy at Kathy's Quilts

In a Fine Pickle!

Yep! That's where I'm at.

Jacob's Ladder is my problem child at the moment because I made an assumption.

Let's go back.
- I saw a Jacob's Ladder quilt on Pinterest
- It had a lovely border
- My Jacob's Ladder top is waiting for a border since 2013
- Can't find Jacob's top
- Started to make blocks for the border lest I forget what it was like
- Found the top
- Continued to make blocks because I like it

- Counted the blocks made - missing 14
- Made 14 more blocks
- Assembled blocks together in a long border
- Assembled more blocks into another border
- Set borders beside quilts
- Borders don't fit
- Wait! what??

There's the pickle!!
I assume that the pieces in Jacob's block were 3 inches finished and made the border blocks accordingly.

It would look nice right?

It's way too long, even if I remove a block or two; the measurements aren't even.

So! 

Options are 

- Undo all the Economy blocks, cut them down to size, and resew (106 blocks)

- Don't add any borders and finish the quilt as is

- Make the stop border wider and hope no one will notice the different sizes 

- Throw the quilt back into the drawer it came out of
- or any other suggestion you have is welcome :^)

See, this was the (very quickly drawn) layout of the quilt I saw on Pinterest. It had a stop border of dark fabric, then the pieced border is added. Now, because of the pickle, what if I make the border wider to reach the length of the border? Will it look silly because the pieces in the block and the pieces in the border aren't the same sizes? 

Let me know what you think please. Thank you. ;^)

On a much happier note, on Tuesday I had a lovely surprise in the mail. 

She told me she would send me the puzzle she has just finished. When I got the box, I was all excited. I got a new puzzle to do. Little did I know! 

Inside the box was. 

a bag! A GORGEOUS bag! 

A BIG gorgeous bag! Beautifully made too. 

The puzzle! Oh, this will be fun! 

And look! There's more!!!

Two pot holders! Such lovely fabrics. I am spoiled. So spoiled. 

Now when I say the bag is big, it's huge!

The bag is 17.5" by 26" deep! It will be used to carry my projects to the Artisanat's reunions because it is big enough and I want to show it off.  

In her lovely card, Karin says she hopes that I will use the gifts. You bet I will! The potholders are so refreshing and Spring-like that they bring a smile to my face every single time I look at them. (Especially since we're still getting snowflakes.) 

Thank you so much, Karin. Bless your generous heart. ♥ 

(You can see how busy this girl is at the end of the dirt road, handling a huge farm with her husband (and sometimes a crew) AND sewing too.) 

So that's all I have for now. 

Thank goodness I have other projects (and a puzzle too) to work on while I ponder about Jacob.  Lol.

;^)

Joining
Sarah at Confession of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy

May. Finally!

So happy to see May. I hope it will bring some warmth with it as the trees are still bare. They are now starting to show buds but usually they sport some tiny little bright green leaves at this time of year. Oh well. I'll enjoy whatever I get whenever I can.

This was last Saturday afternoon. It's was cold-ish but warm enough to play outside. I did lots of Economy blocks then. 

The total for Jacob Ladder's border is now 50 Economy blocks. I believe I have 40 more to do. Lots of blues in here.

Played with more blue crumb blocks

which wasn't easy because I have a whole lot more dark blue than lights and brights.

This poor bag is so full. I need to do something about this ... maybe this weekend.

Hey! Look who I found!

It's Jacob! Gosh! I love this quilt! All in blue and green with whatever neutral I had.  It's a pre-blog flimsy.  I will recount how many blocks I need for the border. I also have to find a fabric for the inner border that will play nicely with all the blocks.

It's nice to revisit these fabrics as some I don't have anymore, like these.

You won't believe what I found while looking for Jacob.

Yep! Another bag of blue fabric. Oh! but there's a lot of lights in this one. Okay, so I'll definitively be sewing more blue this weekend, and finish the crumb blocks properly.


Angela announced the new color for May and ...

I have a head start. Dark green is very present in the Economy blocks since Jacob has a lot of those too.

The hand sewing is coming along too. It is very slow sewing as the hexies don't have their paper backing anymore.

Still, half of the row is done, so I see it as good progress for the little bit of attention I gave it.

The other end has its paper still attached. Hopefully, it will go faster.

So, that's all I have for now.
You take care, stay home no matter what they are saying. I love how this post on Facebook explained it.

Only 3% chances of catching Corona-virus. If I give you a bowl of 100 candies and I tell you three candies are poison and you might die if you eat one. Would you still gamble and eat a handful? Because you know you will meet more than just one person out there. 


Please, stay safe as I love you all.
;^)

Joining
Angela at So Scrappy
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Kathy at Kathy's Quilts
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Les étoiles de Cécile - Brille

It is finally May! I just realized that I haven't showed you my little 16 stars challenge hosted by Béa et Cécile in France. It has been waiting for April 30th for so long and then I forget about it. lol.

It started with some applique stars that took to long to make. So I switched to little 3 inches Ohio Stars. Much easier.

Altogether, sixteen stars were made and then they grew a lined border on two sides.

(Please remember that this project was started back in January 2020. There was no way I could have foreseen what was about to happen in March 2020.)

I did this quilt to show that we are all unique and beautiful.

Brille/Shine tells us that we are Stars and even though,

some of us are shy to let our light shine ...

or that we feel awkward in front of people (that's me) ...

or we have some handicap, physical or mental, or we have been broken by abuse and lies, or we are a wallflower,


we can all shine a beautiful light that can brighten up other people's day, moment or even their life.

And this is even more apparent during this hard time of COVID-19. Thank you to all of you who still make this world go round; Doctors, nurses, truck drivers, police, firefighters, first line people all over, thank you.

No matter what happen today, you can still shine. Give your light to others. No one knows what the other went through.

A candle looses nothing by lighting up another candle.


Back of Shine.

Overcast day makes very poor pictures. Sorry. All it needs is a good wash and blocking.


Merci Béa et Cécile for this fun sew-along. Gros bisous.

Stay safe everyone. 💗

;^)

Joining
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy