Monday, February 27, 2023

Rainbow Scrapping it up!

 Already moving into month three of 2023 and 

I still have a few RSC 22 hanging around. 

I think it is time to finish them up!


I've been really stalled on the borders. 

A friend on zoom gave me the solution for

making the many piece border fit to the 

rest of the top. She suggested to adjust the 

middle of the border.  A squeeze and ease 

near the corners would show and be noticed 

but always adapting in the middle would make 

it a design element and be more deliberate. So that is where 

I'll be adjusting these two.  Then if I can get them off to

the long armer ( I still have a few quilts left on my punch card)

I can actually have a few finishes before summer.

Here I go!  First up a good measure , both sides and center. 

Then, check the border. Each of these two tops has a 

zig zag border made of all the left over half squares I could find. 

It also could be called flying geese units too. First I'll need to 

organize my table.  It is a catch all sometimes and 

it is loaded this week. 

All my blocks to be joined landed on it!

The blue log cabin:




The pink log cabin


The older UFO log cabins that need zinger sashings:




and a big bin of fabrics from a friend to use and share!




There goes my stash tracking count!  I picked up a few items 

from the give and take table too! 

My name is "State your name"  and I'm a fabriholic!

Back to the stars. 

Two side borders are attached.  Each top will have a 

zig zag border but of course I will make them slightly 

different. Here is the first. 


The second top will get the same only the negative arrangement.



The corner treatment is giving me the most strife but I am 

making progress. 

The first corner is looking like this:


It finished up looking like this!

The second seemed to go together a bit easier.  It is a negative of the 

first with the center being white/light. 


These two flimsies are off to the quilt vault to await backing 

and quilting! A bit of my February goal finished too!

Stay safe and sew on !

Linking up with :























Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Pink Abundance

 February is fast moving on

and pinks are all sewn up!

They still have residence in a  drawer and 

carry bag but for now 

they are as sewn as it gets!

A  bountiful pile of  pink log cabins for tops!


A stack of strings along for a 

ride to a strippy top. 


Four garlic knots joined their

fellows in the box and the same 

for the weave/hatchet, which will sew up into a square.




Four 12" crumb blocks can pair 

up with a block 5 x 5 with 2 "

finished squares, 




or some wonky string stars for a nice border. 

Did you notice the instructions for RSC hanging

in plain sight!  Yay, I can always find them on the 

bulletin board. They do get covered up with 

a flimsy when I am on zoom calls tho but I

do know they are safe underneath!




I even found some time today to organize

my RSC work!  It now has a designated 

area and should help me stay tidy longer! 

Woot Woot! Sorted a bit more too! Sunglasses!



The trimming bits are looking good as well. 

Crumb blocks make good use of the 

smaller bits!



Now off to get the borders on some string stars!

Stay safe and sew on !

Linking up with : 




Put Your Foot Down











See the Sort!

 A bit more sorting. 

Here in Alberta , we get lots of sunny days. 

Edmonton is a strong sun spot
 with 2299 hours and 321 days of sun a year.
(That is according to the internet and 
today we will believe it)

Since we also have a lot of winter, some of 

those sunny days land in March!  When I went to 

get some sun protection... a mess of 

glasses fell out!



Who needs this many pairs and 

why am I (again) saving broken items?

So I spread them all out, sorted, cleaned and discarded. 



The glasses do not fit any of the cases! 

I also found my cooling scarves! 

Soaked in water they will be  perfect for some

 warm weather biking in my near future!





All the scratched lenses and 

one-armed frames are gone, as well as 2 broken cases!

I am ready for my another sunny Alberta day!

A quick sort but very promising

Stay tidy!



Friday, February 17, 2023

Pinks, fish and flowers.

 It is shaping up to a very busy month!  

Lots of family trips/travel for business,

pet sitting, child sitting, block making and

social sharing!  Wow!




I seem to keep jumping on a bandwagon

in my quilting.  Last year it was 

 all about stars and this year more about logs and strips.

 I guess most of my stars are made of strips so not 

really that different!  

Any way, lot of stitching getting done. The pink 

baby top is ready to stitch together and all laid out. 

A blue wonky log cabin , twin sized, has  all the 

blocks made, trimmed and ready.   Another pink log 

cabin, hopefully a twin,  has a stack of blocks ready for 

trimming up the last round.



 There are even a big pile of multicolored

ones ready to enlarge a  flimsy to a family/baby top!  



With a sew day and a come and go retreat soon, I am 

ready to get busy!!

I do have a little helper for the next while. 

A rental dog is the best, after a while, they go back home!


Then on to some organizing for tomorrow's virtual sew day!

Zoom meetings make it so easy.  You can never forget

anything since you are at home!

I attended a wonderful class yesterday on the 

Laura Heine technique.

  I managed to reconnect with my inner 

appliqué queen and create a little fish top!





A bit more adjusting and some fusing and

 I will have a complete project!

Some sorting may happen during sewing breaks today.  

I am tackling the pile of costume jewelry

that seems to grow when I'm not watching.



I hope everyone had a great Valentine's day!













Monday, February 6, 2023

Log Cabin Me; One, Two, Three

 Well, here we go into February! 

First off on this little adventure, the 

answer has been found!  The designer/inspiration

for the Elusive block is   Janice Gunner! 

Her book is called Liberating Log Cabin.



I am working off instructions published in 

QNM April 2002.

More sorting started off the months with 

the bags being decreased severely! It was 

surprising how many can build up! See what I did here!



Starting my month of pink with a wonky 

log cabin and finishing up a blue twin log cabin too. 

The little pink lovely is ready to join. I did put one

blue strip in since the strip was so pretty but I may 

change my mind on that. It just looks too random!



If I get the sewing area organized,

they are a joy to stitch!

The Elusive ones are coming along nicely 

also. The first group of ten is ready for the 

final round.



A goodly pile of blues and multiscrap got started 

over the last few days also!






  There will be lots of 

tops stitched up during my next sew day!

Linking up with 
















Bags, bags, who needs a bag!?

 It seems I am on a sorting binge and 

instead of buttons, alphabetically next are bags!



I started on the bags when a big bin of scraps tipped over

taking the tv remote, phone and a pin cushion with it!

The pins and the remote fell into the bags and since

I had to move them anyway, 

it was a good time to get all the bags out. 

The pile turned out to be quite sizable. 

I have a total of 17 bags of all shapes and sizes. 

Four of the bags are big subway bags which are 

great for carrying quilts to meetings or for dropping off 

donation quilts. I do think four is a little excessive.  I've 

offered them to my sewing group so I should be able to 

share that wealth.  


Let's start with the largest to the smallest and see if 

some of them have to go.

The biggest (non food bag) is a great kit bag 

that was a door prize at a guild retreat. 



 I actually won it!! Finding out that 

overloading is a problem is it's flaw and I use it for 

poufy project with minimal weight!  Too many tools

makes it very heavy and awkward. It has lots of pockets 

and is almost 6" wide so it is easy to overload it.

 

 The next one if the most useful I have.  It came with a

built in ironing board. I had to replace the fabric on the 

ironing board side after a fusible web misadventure. It will hold

a folding mat or an 18" X 24 " one as well as an assortment of 

tools in clear pockets. 




 Leaving out the tools and mat, it can 

even hold 3 shoe box sized project boxes and still zip. 

It is great for a retreat bag or taking folded tops for display

or show. The only draw back is the zipper is very close to 

the ironing portion and is in danger of being melted. It hasn't 

happened yet tho so either I have been lucky or it  has

painted metal teeth. 

Next is one of a set I got ages ago. It matched 

a wheelie sewing machine bag that had to be recycled 

when the wheels broke off and couldn't be repaired.



This bag will four of my shoebox projects 

storage boxes or three flat project boxes.  Definitely a keeper.  

Then I have 2 of these Canada 150 bags. These were on 

sale at a knitting shop one of my buddies wanted to visit 

during a shop hop. They fit a featherweight machine

perfectly but one of the bottoms wore out so I think

I will relegate both of them to the grocery bag box. 



They are handy for toting things to a sew morning so 

they will also be on reserve if needed. 

Then there is the great big quilt bag. 



Everyone I knew made one. It uses a

meter of fabric for the outside , one for the liner

and has a gathered handle. It does hold a large 

quilt but it takes a little doing. I may keep it for nostalgia 

or donate for the load lightening. 

Next is this wonderful IKEA bag. It can go 


back to store bag box but it has great 

pockets and a cross body handle. I will 

have to keep it away from my adult children!



Then there is another shoulder cross body bag 



It has a wonderful inside and it is 

great for shows etc. but how many does one need. 

It may be off for donations too!

I have a lovely tote from Mexico but 

it is starting to fall apart.  It is a gift from a

friend so I may recycle it into placemats or a 

wall hanging as a memento. 


Getting nearer the end now with two business type bags

that definitely have to stay.



The first is a guild bag.  It has a nice zip pocket on the side and even 

water bottle pocket. I could offer it back to a guild member, 

hmm that is a possibility!


The next is a cruise line bag.

Special to me since my daughter danced on the 

ships for almost 5 years. Maybe she would like to 

share the memories!

Last two up, work bags!




The first I will keep and begin using it 

instead of the large work box I usually take to 

workshops etc.

The next and last is a small bag I made when 

I thought I might be a hand stitcher but alas

it was not meant to be. 





This little bag and its assorted hexies will 

hopefully go on to be loved by someone else!

That appears to be the end of the great bag sort. 

It turned out to be a bit easier than I thought!

Here they are, all tidy in the quilt top vault!




Stay tidy!