Monthly Archives: August 2014

4:00 AM…

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I listened to a few TED Talks over the weekend. I really enjoyed this one!

4:00 AM is not a time of day that I want to be awake, but there are those days when I do wake up at 4. Sometimes I wake up with a new thought, or I wake up stewing about something, or I wake up with the realization that something that I thought was going well was, in fact, not. I’m apparently not the only one who has this happen at 4 in the morning.

If you can’t see the video in this post, click here to see Rives‘ Ted Talk.

I’ve been sewing…

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I’ve been working this week on a quilt (in 2 sizes) for the revised edition of the Piecing book. I do wish I could show you what’s on my wall, but all I can show is a little bitty teaser…
BlueTeaser

Actually this quilt is not little. It’s going to be 90″ x 90″ and I am both looking forward to/and not looking forward to quilting it. I have high hopes that, once finished, it will look good on my guest bed. After I set it together tomorrow I’ll know for sure.

I don’t know about you, but I have a really hard time making a quilt that looks good in a particular space. I start with that intention, but then as I make the quilt, the quilt takes over. Colors and values can change. The finished quilts always look good but they may, or may not, look good where I expected to use them. Such is life.

In the construction of this quilt, I used an HST (half square triangle) method that is very accurate. This is the one where if you want a finished size 6″ square, you cut squares 6 1/2″, and trace across them on the diagonal, then sew on that line.

When you use this method, there is some waste… unless you sew together the triangles that you cut away. Which I did!

LeftOverTriangles

I’m not entirely sure what will happen with these HSTs (that need their dog-ears trimmed and then need to be pressed open). I might use them on the back of the quilt. Or not. Tonight, I’m too tired to think about it :-).

 

An Everyday Best Challenge!

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Valerie Prideaux sent me these photos from a friendly quilt challenge that she and some friends took part in. The quilts were recently displayed at Quilts at the Creek 2014, a yearly outdoor quilt show in Toronto, Canada. Aren’t they great! All the quilts were quilted by Sandy Lindal of Scrappy Gal Quilt Co, who was so busy doing the quilting that she never got hers done.

FYI: I’ve loaded the 6 pictures into a slideshow, which is a new feature I’ve found on WordPress. Hover over the picture and you’ll see a pop-up control bar where you can click to go from slide to slide.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Shirley entitled hers “One Thousand Three Hundred and Sixty pieces of my mind” which cracks me up. I have never taken the time to count the pieces in any quilt I’ve made because, if I knew, I might despair of ever finishing :-).

I do love Valerie’s minimalist interpretation of the design—so very contemporary. Thank you all, for sharing your work!

Notebook cover…

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A lady in my class had this cute notebook cover, with a pocket on the cover…

NotebookCover-Pocket-1

It was simple to make—so simple you don’t really need a pattern. She made it so that the ends of the cover slipped into pockets. This would be really cute to give kids who are their way back to school. I suppose Elanor might want one!

NotebookCover-Pocket-2

Chirping pillows…

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Susan (a blog reader) sent me this photo and I thought you all would enjoy seeing her first applique project!

SusansChirpPillows

Susan wrote: “I took parts of your blocks (from Applique With Attitude) and arranged them to suit the shapes of my pillows. I began quilting about a year and a half ago and came across your website quite by accident…..a lucky accident for me! I like applique better than any handwork I have ever done. Thank you for inspiring me…..wish I had your eye for color.

Your work is amazingly bright and beautiful and cheerful, and your website is so easy to navigate and packed with helpful information.  Your tutorials got me off to a good start for the basics of needle turn applique (I “cheat” and use a toothpick.) [FYI—as I wrote to Susan, toothpicks are a great tool and it’s not cheating to use them. It’s just smart :-).]

The buttons on my pillows came from my grandmother’s button boxes,which were an old snuff can and an old baking powder can.  She’s been gone for many years, but she is still with me.  🙂

Thank you for your long-distance help, Susan”

I have to say that I do enjoy getting emails like this. Seriously, who wouldn’t? I’m not saying that to get you all to write to me. No, it’s more of a reminder that we should all, me included, send notes of gratitude. That said, here’s one from me, to you:

Thank you all for taking the time to read what I post. Honestly, it makes my day to know that you all actually do that. I work from home most of the time and our online community is a very nice part of my life. I’ll do my best to not get boring :-).

Have a lovely day…