Only a Few Hours Left: OMG!

Edited to join the March OMG goal setting. But you might have seen this post before. 

The February heat wave has messed up my plans (because I only wanted to be outside and kind of forgot I was supposed to be sewing) but I did finish my OMG with only a few hours to spare. Phew!! 

The goal was to have all the missing blocks of the Westering Women BOM done. 

TA-DAaaaaahhhh!

Sorry for the shadowy indoor photo but it is already too dark for an outside photo-shoot

I wonder if you can imagine how happy I am that it is done? Such a weight off my shoulder.  :^D

The second goal was to have all the blocks for the I-Spy quilt made. 

TA-DAaaaaahhhh!

Eight star blocks and 

eight regular 9-Patch blocks. I was running low on fun fabric for this one so I inserted some flannel. I have as many fun prints in flannel as I do in cotton. It proved to be hazardous as my flannel scraps are up there. 

And everything came tumbling down when I tried to take the box down. Actually, it was kind of fun to have a shower of soft flannel scraps pouring down on me, lol. On the other hand, the box was not as nice! Now I just want to continue to play with the flannel. I should at least get this more organised but my cotton scraps take the entire room and I don't know where else to store the flannel. The bigger pieces are in bins but there's no room in those for the scraps. What's a girl to do? Sew it up! :^D


Anywho!
For my March OMG, what will I do? My intention, last January, was to make the Westering Women in February and finish the quilt in March. But after September, I really need a break from this quilt before I fall out of love. 

Never would have thought that September is a troublemaker. 

So instead, I'll assemble the I-Spy quilt and baste it. That's all. I mean, the weather is nice and I want to be outside so just a little challenge for March. 


Until next time ... breathe in, touch flannel, breathe out, repeat. 

;^)

Joining in the linky party at Elm's Street Quilts.  

The best of plans can change

My February OMG is to make all the blocks for an I-Spy quilt and to make the missing Westering Women blocks.  Although I am trying my best to stay on track, I found myself derailing this weekend.  The reason? The weather! 

It is so nice and sunny, I can't stay in the basement sewing. I am almost tempted to bring my sewing machine outside. I would have to sew with my sunglasses on because it is THAT bright out there. Unfortunately, my sunglasses only have the "far away" prescription and not the "reading" one. So I can't sew with them. Darn! 

Anywho! I did manage to finish the log cabin blocks for Cécile QAL. I will dedicate a post entirely to them later. 

While sewing the log cabin, I did finish some of the Westering Women blocks. 

July and August, which you have already seen, and  

October (on top), November and December with a snowy sky look.  As you can see September is still missing. It got me cursing! 

 As sewing in-set seams or Y seams, is not my forte, my first attempt was wonky. Then I thought it needed to have the seam allowances added to the pattern because the units were too small to finish at 12 inches. So, I thought if I have to start over, might as well do it in the English Paper Piecing style. Did one (almost) (at left) before I realized that the pattern also calls for a plain piece in between the sage buds, like the Bear Paws (November) in the last picture.  (!@$$%*@#$!!) (Sorry!)  Starting over again!! I saw a few ... okay, many Westering Women quilts finished. I saw one that had 11 blocks. Guess which block was missing?  I can sooo relate!! Anywho! Wasn't born a quitter but a kicker, so on we go! (Did my little exasperation dance but I am fine now. I can calmly carry on.)  :^D

All the while, my leader / ender was the I-Spy quilt. Did more cutting than sewing on this one. 

It is time consuming to get the fabric out, cut ONE five inches square and put the fabric back on the shelf. Start again with next fabric. Once I get to just sewing it, it will surely go pretty fast ... I hope so because February is almost over. Yikes!  

The cherry on top of all this is that I am back at work. Since it is a progressive return to work, I still have some time to sew. I'm tired and happy! But it sure feels good to be back at work.  :^D 

Okay, got to go. My sunglasses are calling me. 

Until next time ... I'll be looking up because it is brighter up there. 

;^)

Joining Beth at Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making. 

Singing the Y-Seam Blues

Part of my OMG is to finish the blocks of Westering Women (by Barbara Brackman). Well, the ladies have a broken wheel on one of the wagons and they are singing the Y-seam Blues with me!

I was real proud of my August block Chimney Rock.

Armed with more confidence, I set to assemble September's block which is Sage bud. More Y-seams then I dare to count. But one at a time is all I can sew, right? It started pretty good actually.

The first seam with the yellow fabric was very good and the next one acceptable.

Same with this unit.

The more I added, the better it looked.

Then the fourth unit is ... to be unstitched.  It won't lay flat at all. It warps. ARGH!! So I restitched, and unstitched, and re-restitched and ... I examined the others, trying to find what I was doing differently. During the examination, I realized something.  The block is to finish at 12.5 inches so each unit has to be 6.5, right? Well, they are not! WHAT???

I took out the template (sorry but it is misbehaving today) and examined it a bit.

I copied this template as is and started to sew. It doesn't say "add seam allowances" so I didn't add ANY seam allowances. It makes no sense, the units are too small.  I went back to Barbara's blog and she does say it in the post : must add seam allowances. (paste huge sigh of discouragement here) THAT's what happen when you do a BOM block months later. You forget little important details! Angry at myself for wasting fabric, time and patience but it will past.

So if I am to start all these units over AGAIN, where I might end up making another big mess of the last y-seam, I might as well EPP it!! (EPP=English Paper Piecing)

Got some old Christmas cards some businesses sent to the office and drew the templates. Adding the seam allowances as I cut the fabrics.

This evening, I will keeping Kathy company, watching Mercy Street and Victoria on PBS while we both slow stitch, each on our own project.

To make sure my templates are the right size, I have started to assemble one.

Ooohhh! Can't wait for the supper's dishes to be done. It's going to be so much fun! Come and join us. Pick a needle and a project, and come share it with us. You can find Kathy right here. 


Until next time ... the Westering Women are getting that wheel fix real good!

;^)

Monday's Promises and Y Seams

Boy, am I proud of my work this week? YES m'am!

Sometimes we don't do much; sometimes we sew up a storm. Well, I did one better: I tackled one of my fears! (\O_ O/)

Let's see.

The Westering Women made it to June on their journey. Then they stopped in Nebraska for a very long time. Well, it's time to get them going again. This weekend, I gathered them back together with the basket of fabrics and started to cut the block for July. It was an easy block.

Courthouse Rock.

Then I cut the fabrics for the August's block; the dreaded Chimney Rock with the Y seams!!

My first plan was to cut the pattern up in order to eliminate all those Y seams but I thought if I want to learn I need to practice. Right? So ...

Armed with patience and much apprehension, I sat at my sewing machine, then I stopped.

I turned the computer on and started to google a few videos.

Needless to say I have wasted a good hour on that ... but did find what I was looking for. (along with a whole lot more not relevant to quilts!)


Now better armed with patience, less apprehension and an undeniably  great technique, I started to assemble the Chimney Rock.

Ta-da!

I truly surprised myself. No cursing, swearing, frustration and no sense of failure in any of the 12.5 inches of this block. I am so proud of myself. Best bonus; it lays flat. Flat like a pancake! In the beginning of the year, we had to make a Gumtree leaf block. (Can't remember which month, but anywho!) I made it with the usual method of sewing Y seams as it is explain in all the books I have.

My block looks like this. It is a very good effort but just an effort nonetheless.  I hope the quilting will tame these "bubbles" in the middle as it doesn't lay flat at all.
With the new (to me) method, I can even show you the back of Chimney Rock with no worries. Not going to do that with the Gumtree block. :^{

Yay! me. Will I redo the Gumtree leaf? Don't know yet.

The tutorial I found is from Kaye Wood. Her technique goes against all technique I have seen, read and hear on how to sew Y seams. If you are interested, you can see Kaye Wood's tutorial here. 
Not sure how that method works when you have rows upon rows of tumbling blocks but for this block, it worked like a charm.

Here are the two newest blocks. The Westering ladies are now in Wyoming and are closer to their goals and so am I. Only four more blocks to go to finish Westering Women BOM. The block for September is also full of Y seams, so I'll put the new technique through another test this week.

Last week, I also squared up some blocks and started to assemble the border  ...

... on the 365 Challenge.
The right border is all done and the left is slowly getting there too.

It will be nice when all the borders are attached and I can get my floor back. The borders are one foot each so it is growing big real fast. I barely have enough room to tiptoe around it. It is now spread for the picture but when you are not looking, it is folded up somewhat.

These are the things that will keep me busy this week. What about your week? Care to share with us? Join us at :

Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making

Em's Scrapbag for Moving it Forward 

Chances are you will be inspired.




Until next time ....  y seams await their faith!

;^)

OMG February

I didn't do so well with my January OMG.  :^{  

The ideas and inspirations took too much of my time and then I was "absorbed" into another quilt. The design was finally decided and it is only a matter of STARTING it now. The first step is sometimes the hardest.

 So, I have put that project on the back burner for the moment as, once again, Plan B has showed up.


My goal for February is to have all the blocks done for two different tops. Is that too much?  In 28 days?



The first one is the BOM Westering Women. The main reason for this is that I need the fabrics. I mean, I usually set aside in a basket or box, the fabrics I intend to use on a project so I don't use them all up on something else. 

projects under the quilting frame

Unfortunately, this method does restrict me.  Sometimes, I forget about a certain fabric and miss using a bit in a great block and sometimes I'll look for hours for it before remembering it's in the restricted zone for another project. :^{ 

There's a lot of fabric here. The basket is more than half full and it measures 24 X 14 X 10 inches deep. AND it's starting to be a mess in there. 

Since the blocks from January to June were made, I need to finish July to December.  I 've kept all the patterns on my computer so I can tackle this BOM anytime. Some blocks have lots of Y-seams or inset seams. Either way you call this, it is still "Yuck" to me. I might have to "reform" some of the units on certain blocks.

January to June blocks in no particular order

The second project is for a new quilt. Yes, I want to make a quilt for a little 17 month old boy. :^)  This means I am starting ( ) another project. (at your discretion, you may insert "yet again" in the blank space.)

I would like something FAST but FUN. I am thinking an I-SPY kind of quilt. I am very inspired by Sarah's quilt  seen here.



The cutting has started.

The stars will be a calm yellow.

Now I am not crazy and yes, I do need to sleep, so my goal is to only make the blocks. If I get beyond that, it'll be a bonus but 28 days can go by so fast.



Linking up with Patty at Elms Street Quilts for OMG! 

Until next time ... I spy with my little eye ...

;^)

Hot Pink, Westering and group photos

If you follow my blog, you already know I love blue. Blue and orange. Not much of a pink girl. Having four men in the house is another good reason for not having a lot of pink in my stash. But I do have some.

My good friend Pink gave me the solid hot pink. (Thanks Pink!) It looked better with the other fabrics in my Peace and Plenty block than my dotted one, so I went with the solid one.

Here's my hot block ... oops! my hot pink block for July.

For participating in the Log Cabin Loonies, I have won a prize from Julie K Quilts . A lovely pair of scissors and they're pink too!!

Thanks again Julie.


Now how about a group photo? Would you like that?

Peace and Plenty  - 6 blocks done

I didn't do a brown block as I couldn't find one that played nice with the brights. I'll see at the end of the year if I need one or not. I love how it looks so far. 

On another front, the West front, haha! I am wagoner woman heading West with Barbara Brackman. 

The latest block is Hill and Hollow. 

I've added a little blue in this one as there was none in the previous blocks. A sweet friend of mine, told me that she was surprised, since I love blue so much, that I hadn't used blue yet. So I did, some "bleu de Provence", (or so I think it is) to represent the fresh water the travellers finally found on the very rough terrain. (While I sew, I listen to an audio book; Les enfants de la Patrie. It's about the WWI in France. Very good, but also so sad. )

I also added a little bit of cheddar. In the fabric selections made by Barbara, there is no cheddar in any of the many different selections she showed on her blog. I am surprised. I guess cheddar came later. Too bad I didn't notice that before making the block. Too late now, cheddar stays.


So this is all I have to show for now. I'll get back to the sewing machine, so many blocks to do, so much fun to have. But first, I have to visit Angela's place at So Scrappy for RSC2016 with a cup of coffee. Hope to see you there.

On Tuesday, I'll join Nicki at Mrs Sew & Sow for another Scraptastic Tuesday!


May you find some time to sew too.


Until next time...


;^)

Westering Women Progress

With all the posts about the Ottawa Quilt Show, I didn't take the time to show you what I did. (Well, it's not much but I'll show you anyway. ) 

Westering Women block of March was the Sweet Gum Leaf block.  Inset seams again! (I had enough with the 365 Challenge.) But this block asks for bigger pieces, maybe it will be easier to assemble. :^)

I tried a few colour combination. 

With a name like "Trail's End" this background fabric had to be included in the Westering Women quilt., right?

The stem is way too big but I am not starting over. As you can tell by the picture, my leaf is not laying flat. I tried, and tried, and tried, and gave up. This is how it will stay. Not matter the size of the pieces, inset seams and I don't play nice together. Period!  I hope to be able to quilt it into a more obedient shape. lol.


For April, the  block is called The Lone Elm.

 ... which I am still working on it. :^D

I also worked on the 365 Challenge March's blocks. Yes March's blocks! Got four (wonky) mitred corners blocks done and...

March 17th is all cut up and on the ready ... but I am not ready! I need a break from these mitred corners.

So I'll finish the Lone Elm and make some more tulip blocks.


Oh! Didn't I tell you about the tulips?
Oh! I didn't!
Well,  it's a ... uh-hum ... new project  ...
A commission! It's a commission for my Mother-in-law.   :^D

She asked me to do something to cover the RV's table. Can I say no? Of course not!! She said she is no hurry and to surprise her. Well, she loves playing in her flowerbeds and she is proud of her flowers, so I thought some tulips would be nice. (Actually, I really don't know WHAT I am doing.) Stay tuned!

Today, I am joining Love, Laugh, Quilt for Making Monday.



Until next time ...

;^)

Happy International Quilting Day!

Guess what's on my mind today?

Not too hard to figure out!

Trimmed tiny little HSTs to one inch ! I'm trying to catch up a little bit on the 365 Challenge. They are taking longer and longer to sew as precision is the key word here. Speed and precision don't go together, well, not for me anyway.

Did my usual blooper. What's a day without a blooper ... (or is it What's a day without orange juice?) Anywho, had to redo part of this one.

I love this fabric and all I have is 7X5 " of it.  I want to use it in the 365 Challenge but where? The block finaly showed up today. Look!

I like it and I still have enough for part of another block ... maybe. (This picture shows its natural colours better.)

So here they are.This what I made so far on my Quilting Day morning. (Actually, did most yesterday hehe!)

Of course, there's more to come.

Then I jumped from February 19, Tea Leaf (bottom middle in the above picture) to February 23 because it sounded so hard to make. Being still early enough in the morning for my concentration to be foolproof (yeah right!) (at least, I got the blooper out of my system) so I started to cut the necessary fabrics.

With the little one inch pieces, I'll make flying geese units. Don't believe me? Actually, neither did I !! Took my time and drawn a line on all of the little pieces. Yes, of course being so small, it's easy to eyeball it but, 1/8 of an inch on these pieces is like half an inch or more on a 3.5 piece.

So no eyeballing for me.  I sew a hair away from the drawn line so when the fabric folded back, it would reach all the way to the edge.

Sometimes my hair is too thick, lol, and I had to sew again, just closer. I checked every single one before cutting.

If you think these are "dogears" that I've cut off, you are wrong.  These are the "bonus trianges" we get when making these tiny flying geese. Some of the extra HSTs I have kept but not these.  Gosh! I've seen dust bunnies bigger than these triangles lol.

So here are the littlest flying geese I have ever seen. The corner HSTs need to be trim down. They make the geese look even more smaller than they are.

Corner HSTs trimmed down. The red 9 Patch trying to bomb this picture is a regular 3.5 unfinished 9Patch. (Its not completely sewn together here.) The geese are 1.5 X 1" at this point. They must be flying really high in the sky to be that small. Much like this one.

This is a hawk flying above my head this morning.  Because I was outside, Mr. Hawk wouldn't dare come close and my little friends knew this, I guess, because they decided to drop by to say Hi!

Yes, having peanuts and sunflower seeds in my hand sure did help but it sang for me before leaving with a mouthful. So cute. The day is so gorgeous, it's hard to stay focus on sewing. (Yes, we still have snow here!) Annnnyyyywho!


Here is February 23, Capital T, with all its 33 pieces inside a 3.5 block.

I love it.  Heidi, who organized the 365 Challenge, always have a little bit of history for each block. So interesting.

Here's the little broken dish I made with the extra HSTs from the flying geese next to it.  Cute, right? Now what am I going to do with it?  Dunno!  :^D    It was just fun.

Here is block #2 of the Westering Women.  Now THAT was real easy to make after Capital T.  LOL!

Also, I have done 4 more Double 9 Patch.

Need two more like that and most of the fabric is already cut (as you saw in an earlier picture, the 9Patch) so that should get done today. (After that, all these blocks will go into the UFO pile as I don't know what to use for sashing. Every piece of fabric I have tried so far leaves me so not impressed. Twice, I have found and bought some fabric thinking it was the right one, only to see the lack of umph! when I put the blocks on it.)

Then, if there's still some daylight left, I would like to start on my OMG project. No, it's still not started. Yes, I do realize we are the 19th of the month. At the moment, my project looks like this.

Half pin-basted. Yep, well, I'll get to it ... soon.

This is what I used for the backing. It's denim thick. It should make a good rug and I get to use my older fabric. Yay!! (Yes, but you do have to finish it.) I know, I know!  Procastinator :^D

So this is all for the moment. I wish you all a wonderful quilting day.

Joining Cynthia for Oh Scrap! on Sunday.


Until next time ...  keep that needle going!  (I'll try to do the same.)

;^)