Little Finishes and some other stuff

I was making my #2 July Tiny Tuesday block. Cut the squares, drew the line, sewed 1/4 Inch on either side to make 4 HST. The bear paw block need the extra square in the corner. I cut that too.

I usually square up my HST with Eleanor Burns'  square up ruler. I find it's easier to do that than deal with the seam  after they have been pressed open. Especially on tiny blocks.   I carried the parts to the sewing machine.  Where is the plain square?  Back to the cutting table... oops, I sliced it while squaring up the tiny hst. Thank goodness I had more of that fabric. I just cut another.

I am really happy with the Tiny Bear Paw block.

Then this weeks Tiny Tuesday blocks happened!.  Sally Trude at The Objects of Design provided tutorials for both a pig block and a fish block  . I started with the 2 fish. My astrological sign is Pisces, so I thought that made sense.

Then I cut out the pieces for Miss Piggy. Tiny 1" squares!! Breathe, Judy!!!.  I followed Sally's directions. I was conscious of my 1/4" seam, I thought.  There were a few pieces I had to trim. One section was more than 5" long. That usually mean I cut it wrong, or my seam was too narrow.
Well after a few alteration, Miss Piggy is done. She is a bit wonky and a bit plump, as pigs are supposed to be, I guess. Her forehead droops on her snout and her chin could be called a "double chin", but all in all she is kinda cute. Her tail droops too, you can't see the bottom of the curl, but I have been know to have a droopy tail, myself. I hope no one is criticial! 

Last weekend we drove to Lakewood CO to help our daughter move. We luckily had both granddaughters, one grandson-in-law and the soon-to-be other grandson-in-law helping. Younger backs were definitely appreciated.

Then Saturday we did this,

 Her own fitting room and lots of styles to chose from.

 A possible Tux selection!

Isn't the back of this on gorgeous? 

We stopped for needed refreshments!  Have you ever had a beer-rita?!

And last but not least, I got 4 blocks done for Covered in Love, July-August Block Drive. R,W and B stars.

So some individual block finished. A chore or two finished. So I am linking up to Finished or Not Friday  


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

I'm in the Pink - Sorta!

Monday the 1st, Angela announced the new color for July!  PINK!  In my stash, pink comes in lots of shades. Baby girl pink, hot pink, salmon pink, pink that leans toward lavender, dusty rose, fushia, even some chevrons with red mixed in and some red riding hood pink!

I made the Tiny Tuesday block. Fun, fast and really cute. Thanks Libby for the tutorial.

And now there are 6 Scrappy Sprout blocks to add to the other 6 colors. I do not even have a plan for these, I just really like them.

I am always a bit afraid to post photos of my design wall. Usually you will get to see the rest of the messy part of my space. On the left here, my machine sits in a little alcove. It just fits in its cabinet. I have lots of "stuff" to the right of my machine, Pincushions, water bottle, spray bottle, my old Pampered Chef Turnabout that now hold my notions, and of course my iPod and speakers ( gotta have the music!) Someday I'll do a tour!  Not soon though!  heehee!

This next week, I hope to get some Bow Tie Blocks done. The parts are cut and clipped together. I continue making garlic knots as leaders and enders, and now Bonnie has given us a new block for leaders and enders, Shoo Fly Shoo.....so I'll probably cut some of those as I sort through my pink scraps.

We are leaving Friday morning to drive to Lakewood, CO to help my daughter move to a different apartment. Smaller and a bit less expensive.  Housing in Colorado is "out of sight". Her two daughters will be there too, and it will probably the last time we get to see our youngest granddaughter for awhile. She and her fiance are moving to Vermont in early August. It's back home for him and we are so sorry to see them go.

Meanwhile,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

I'll be linking up with ScrapHappy Saturday and Oh Scrap! tomorrow. See you there.

PS: Here is what happened today!   Crumb blocks to make Precarious by Kelly Young!

Photo made X-large 

This one show it from across the room. I like it a lot!

July OMG Goal

My goal for this month, July 2019:  to get to flimsy stage, the # 10 Project from my APQ list that was supposed to be done in  June.

 Most of you know that I have lots of challenges!  Quilting challenges for this post! (heehee) Last month, my June OMG took center stage. I got the top done for my brother’s quilt. I did not make any progress on the crumb/ slab blocks project (June APQ challenge)  until Friday the 28th, when I finally settled on a pattern. Back in early 2018, I purchased a digital copy of Stash Statement by Kelly Young! And after paging and paging through all the patterns, I chose Precarious.   You can see Kelly's pattern at her blog myquiltinfatuation.com.  HERE  is a link to her tab marked My Quilts and near the top, she has all the quilts from her book. Precarious is the 1st one on the left in the second row.

Saturday I drove the 20 miles to my LQS for some solid gray! I chose Moda Steel. Elsa’s selection was limited. The pattern calls for 1 3/4 yds of background. I took the last of the bolt....1.685 yards. Following the directions I cut lengthwise strips. They were to be 30.5 inches, I could only get 30 inches!
Oh well,  the quilt will be a wee bit narrower than the pattern. That is ok with me. Just so I can get it at least to flimsy stage.

Here are some of my original slab blocks on my cutting table.

And on the design wall, notice "orange" has some still in progress

Now my design wall looks like this,
 as of this afternoon.

I have sewn a few blocks together then cut then to 4 1/2" square and sewn them back together into 4 1/2" by 24 1/2" rectangles. The gray background is cut into 4 1/2" x 30" strips. 

OK, wish me luck!  This will all work out, though it's kind of fiddly to sew, cut apart and sew again. 

But that is what we quilters do, right?

I'm linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts , July OMG Link Up! 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

And I'll leave you with a photo of my one of my favorite beach bums!  What, you didn't know we had beaches in Wyoming?? Actually this is a sandy man-made beach at Angostura Reservoir in So Dakota. A 2 hour drive, but worth it to play in the sand and water on a "finally hot day"!

Bye Bye Blues

It's the last ScrapHappy Saturday for June!  I took the time to organize and count all my Tiny Tuesday blocks. I like seeing them all together. You may notice that the reverse applique heart, with Pooh in the center does not have setting fabric added. I am still trying to decide if I am going to try that technique again. Maybe from this far away it doesn't look too bad, but I'll always know how uneven the edges are. Same for the blue fan block, it does look wonky on the design wall. I probably will redo that one too!

Wow, my room is a bit messy too!  I can't seem to keep it neat in all corners!

Last Tuesday's Monkey Wrench block. I like it a lot and maybe it was supposed to be set on the diagonal, but I like this block set straight.

And I dug out the other RSC19 blocks for June.  Four Scrappy Sprouts, I will add light blue at the proper time.  Three bow tie blocks, I only need six for my planned layout, so the other three will be lighter blues. And 4 string blocks. No plan for the strings as of yet. And I am running out of strings long enough to make the diagonal, even on these 7.5" blocks. I really don't want to cut into chunks or fat quarters yet! I'll just keep making as I can and see how they go.

I am always anxious for the new color. Finally it is starting to feel like summer here. We actually hit 84 degrees this week. My temperature quilt is nearly half done. When all the June blocks are attached, I'll share a photo.


I'll be linking up with Angela's ScrapHappy Saturday linkup party!  See you there!



Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

I Am Addicted to Garlic Knots and Scrap Happy sewing

While sewing on a quilt for my brother, see this post,  I needed some leader and enders. My scrappy sprouts in blue are done, my Bow tie blocks in blue are done, I can't use string blocks as leader and enders, because I use a larger needle ( used for paper only) and a smaller stitch length. So I started cutting pieces for a garlic knot block. "I just need a few", I said. "I'll just cut a couple of sets" , I said!  I can't stop!!!!

I am digging in 2" baskets for fabric, scrounging larger pieces for the neutrals! Cutting 3 - 4.5" rectangles in the main color, then finding the perfect scrap of 2" x 4.5" for the accent piece!  Green goes with purple, right?

Red can go with green or blue!  Pink can be the main piece or the accent piece. Neutrals can have tiny lavender polka dots, right?  OMGosh!  It's addicting. Now my left thumb is sore from so much cutting!!  "whining"  Bonnie Hunter's pattern calls for 60 Garlic Knot Blocks and then some fancy setting to put plus signs in the middle. I have 20 sewn and 20 more sets cut, so I am well on my way! We will see what I finally decide to do. These won't last as leaders and enders all year, I hope I like her new leader and ender project that is due to come out next month. "fingers crossed"!

Early in the week, I completed 2 blue string blocks and there are 2 more in progress. So I can link up to ScrapHappy Saturday!  And Sunday, Monday, I will link to Oh Scrap!

I did not get the basket block done for Tiny Tuesday, so maybe next week I'll have 2 Tiny Tuesday blocks to show and some more garlic knots!!!

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Finished or Not Friday 6-21-19 and OMG for June

It's the First Day of Summer and:

The top is finished!  The pattern says it needs one more 4.5" border, the quilt and I disagree. I think it is busy enough!  The quilt says, " I am done!".  So now I will search for the perfect backing and send it off to the long arm quilter. This quilt is for my brother. He is retired and a sports fan extraordinaire.
He and my sister-in-law raised 2 wonderful boys that have become wonderful young men. He is a season ticket holding Vikings fan and he has coached and umpired Little League for many years. Late last November he had a heart attack. He survived, and is doing very well. He has lost 45 pounds and although he is not umping this year, he hopes to be back to it next year. I was gifted the blue baseball themed fabric and I immediately knew what it was meant to be. I will bind it with the dark fabric that is covered with baseballs and baseball bats. So it is not quite finished, but my OMG for June was to get the blocks made and the top put together. I call the OMG finished.

The sun finally was shining so, Mr Busy helped me put the quilt top on the back fence. The sun is behind me, hence the shadow!  He used some clamps from his shop, but did grab a napkin from the table for protection. I think I need my own "dedicated " clamps for hanging quilts, don't you?

It is almost too long for the fence! The quilt is 64 X 72!

I am linking up with Myra's Finished or Not Friday!

Update: I am linking this post to June Finish OMG post at Elm Street Quilts. 


I'm off to work on my Temperature Quilt and check out the other links for Finished or Not Friday.
Come join me!


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Scrappy Saturday June 15th

So June's color is Blue.  Navy or Med Blue is suggested. My scrappy sprout blocks had been partially constructed prior to the announcement of the color. So there is a bit of lighter blue in some of the sprouts. The contrast is good.

I may have posted these previously! This is what could happen if your 5 yo great grandson wants to watch you fix the strap on his reading pillow and bumps into the design board you hastily laid aside, but not "UP"!

Oh well, it was remedied very quilkly!


I made a couple more Bow tie blocks, then went back and checked my graph paper layout cheat sheet!  I only need  6 Blue blocks and I would like them to be a mixture of blues. So 3 dark/med blue will be good.

I have been working on Tiny Tuesday Blues.  The Grandmothers Fan block gave me the blues!  Or maybe a better description would be "the jitters".  I procrastinated, and procrastinated!  I happily made the 2nd Tiny Tuesday block for June from Cynthia's cute and well written tutorial.  I'ts the one on the right and as of now, does not have a name. I'm calling mine Town Square, until Cynthia picks a name officially!

I searched the internet for hints on paper piecing with freezer paper. A long time ago that method was taught at a retreat and this is the finished product. So I know I can "Do It".  But I had forgotten the fine points!

I was able to find a link to a free guide here. Thank you Rebecca!! So I happily printed the document and set about paper piecing the tiny blue fan!  When it came time to trim the fan arc, I again experienced the "jitters"!  Slow and steady, Judy. You can do this! I took Angela's advice and cut an oversize block to appliqued the fan to. Then I worried about turning under the edges. So I ironed the shape onto the back of the block and cut the shape including seam allowance. The seam allowance was generous, maybe 3/8 ".

Have you ever used the spray starch method for turning under edges for applique?  I remember seeing a friend and experienced quilter do it a few years ago. So I sprayed some starch in an extra laundry detergent cap, found a small soft bristled paint brush, turned on the iron and set to it!  You basically paint the starch on the seam allowance and press it over the pattern edge.  Sometimes a stylus works to keep your fingers out of the way.

Then I did the same for the small background piece that will be appliqued on top of the narrow part of the fan blades.

It is done!  A tiny bit wonky, but I am basically pleased.  See the photo above, next to the Town Square block.

I'm linking up to Scrap Happy Saturday. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy