Monday, January 27, 2014

Rotherfield Grey Progress

I've been working on the next round of Rotherfield Grey from Primarily Quilts by Di Ford.  This border is really taking some time.  It is made up of 28 scrappy hexagons and the four six pointed stars in the corners on a pieced border.  


The hexagons are 5/8", and I used my scraps to make them.  The pattern calls for 3/4" hexagons.  If you can get a close look at the stars in the corners of the inner borders, they are the size called for in the book, and it was hard to get a quarter inch seam without cutting off the star points.



So I decided to make these hexagons just an eighth inch smaller so I'd be sure they would fit in the border.  



Our city is closed down tomorrow for the most part (city offices, schools, trash pickup, some businesses) because the wind chills are going to be around -20F to -40F.  It's not that I really have anywhere to be, it's just that there is another day of  knowing that if you do venture out, the cold will feel like it goes straight through you.  On the plus side, it will be another day to do some stitching.  

The Weather Channel came up with a list of the 20 coldest major cities in America.  So if you are on this list (and Indianapolis is), you will understand it when I say that we have a lot of winter weather left, and this is getting a bit old.  

Here is the list:

 1.  Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
 2.  Anchorage, Alaska
 3.  Madison, Wisconsin
 4.  Milwaukee, Wisconsin
 5.  Omaha, Nebraska
 6.  Chicago, Illinois
 7.  Lincoln, Nebraska
 8.  Rochester, NY
 9.  Buffalo, New York
10.  Fort Wayne, Indiana
11.  Toledo, Ohio
12.  Detroit, Michigan
13.  Akron, Ohio
14.  Cleveland, Ohio
15.  Indianapolis, Indiana
16.  Colorado Springs, Colorado
17.  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
18.  Denver, Colorado
19.  Kansas City, Missouri
10.  Boston, Massachusetts

Let me know if your city made the list.  

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times.  You can go there to see what others have on their design walls today.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.
  
Thanks for stopping by for a visit.   

Friday, January 24, 2014

Fussy Friday Stars

When I went to English Paper Piecing Addiction group a couple of weeks ago, Michelle, one of our group that always has the greatest show and tell, showed us some six pointed stars that she had made.  Somehow I forgot to get a photo of her stars.   She said they were from a blog that was doing one star a week for the year.  Right away I knew it was Temecula Quilt Company blog because I had been watching their Fussy Friday stars, too.  So even though I really don't need to start yet another new project, what could it hurt to make just one star each week? 

Here is my first star. 

Today is Fussy Friday #4, so I had a little catching up to do.  


I ordered the Paper Pieces 2" six point diamond packet of 450 pieces.  To do one star a week for a year, we need 312 papers because we can't remove them until we know what the setting will be.  

Here is all that you need to be part of Fussy Fridays.  A lot of people use the acrylic templates to cut their pieces, but I really have better luck getting my "fussy parts" to meet using a template that I made out of an index card.  I trace around the shape with a Sharpie and cut it out with scissors.  I know it probably takes a little longer, but it is great TV work in the evenings when you are too tired to concentrate on much of anything else.  I've already got a start on week #5.  


I really can't get enough of this English Paper Piecing, and I'm getting pretty fast at sewing the pieces together.  

The weather here is bitterly cold, and we have a wind chill advisory until noon today.  It is perfect stitching weather.  

Hope you are finding some time to stitch, too!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.  

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses

I've been working on another Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses block.  This is block number 4.  You can read more about Lucy Boston's Patchwork of the Crosses quilt on Linda Franz web site here.  


Here are my first three blocks.  I'm not sure how many blocks I will end up making, but I love the English Paper Piecing.  I've gotten pretty fast at cutting the shapes, gluing them to the paper, and sewing them together.   





 I'm working on another English Paper Piecing project that I'll show you in a few days.  Our weather is bitterly cold here, so it is good weather for stitching.   

I hope you are all finding some time to stitch. 

Thanks for stopping by!  

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Pieced Hexagons

While I was snowed in a week or so ago, I began experimenting with some red and green fabrics from my stash and my new book, Pieced Hexies by Mickey Dupre.  A friend once told me that if you want to try a new technique or just want to make a few blocks with no project in mind, make them in red and green and eventually you will have enough for a Christmas quilt.  I think the top left hexagon was from a quilt in the book English Paper Piecing by Vicki Bellino.



Most of the ideas are from this book.  You can find it at mdquilts.com  

     



This is another great English paper piecing book.  I have the kit (minus fabric) to make the cover quilt.  You can find this at Bloom Creek Quilts.



Here is another hexagon for my Road 66 quilt from Primarily Quilts by Di Ford.  You are probably getting tired of seeing these.  This is number 17, and I only need one more plus a few partial blocks to start putting the quilt together.  Each of the hexagons has to have the round of off white around it before all of that happens.  In a future post, I'll have to show you how many hexagons I have glued and ready to sew.  I might have gone just a wee bit overboard.   


These blocks were my show and tell at our English Paper Piecing Addiction at Back Door last Monday.  You can read about it in my post here.

We had more snow yesterday, and it is going to be cold this week  so I'm sure there will be some time to do some stitching!  Hope you are stitching today, too.  

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Monday, January 13, 2014

English Paper Piecing Addiction Group Meeting

This morning was the first monthly meeting of the English Paper Piecing Addiction Group for 2014.  We meet at Back Door Quilt Shop in Greenwood, and there were a lot of familiar faces as well as those that are new to English Paper Piecing.  We always start with show and tell which is always full of inspiration.

This is a pieced hexie quilt.



These hexagons are made with a lot of the fabrics from the Blueberry Crumble line of fabric by Moda.  


More pieced hexies.


This one is an I Spy hexagon quilt that is hand quilted.  


This is a small version of the Sue Daley pattern, Baskets for You.


A beautiful paper pieced pineapple quilt.  


These are blocks from It Takes Two by Sue Daley.  There is applique' and embroidery that goes in the center of the circles.  This is the quilt that I started in the Sue Daley class.  These are NOT my circles, but I wish they were.  


This is Teri's circle.  She is just starting her quilt.  


This is Coconut Ice another Sue Daley pattern.


Cassie's Quilt is another by Sue Daley.  Linda and Teri, owners of Back Door are making this quilt.  The blocks are just gorgeous.  They are English Paper Pieced and are a lot like a Dresden Plate.  There is a circle in the center so there are no center seams to match.  


Here are a few photos from inside Back Door:  


There are lots of samples and interesting displays.


A display of Sue Daley quilts.


These photos show just a small part of the shop.  


Of course, there is shopping.  I bought the Winter issue of Primitive Quilts and a few reds and greens to work on the Benjamin Biggs quilt.  I'm also collecting Halloween fabrics for a friend in Australia.  


Since Cassie's quilt has some applique', Teri did a demonstration of how to prepare freezer paper applique' for needleturn.  She used a small Clover iron along with some gorgeous fabrics from a bundle that she showed us.  I've seen a tutorial for this method on several blogs including Tattered Garden Quilting.  Nancy uses 3 layers of freezer paper ironed together to give the applique a nice crisp edge.  Back Door now sells triple thickness freezer paper.  I've been thinking about trying this method of applique' prep for awhile.  I bought the liquid spray starch at the grocery the other day, so seeing this demonstration has really made me want to give this method a try.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Well........I was in the car with the key in the ignition, and I was ready to drive away when I decided to go back in and buy the iron and the fabric bundle.  I just couldn't get that fabric bundle out of my mind, and I can't really try the applique' prep without the little iron, right?  I know it was an impulse buy, but I think it was a good one.  
 
Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today! 

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Benjamin Biggs and Football

I'm getting ready to settle down for the evening to watch some football.  I'm going to do a little more stitching on Block 1 of the Benjamin Biggs quilt offered as a free block of the month from Gay at Sentimental Stitches and Brenda of Dear Jane.  Follow the links to find the free pattern.




I have some snacks ready.



There's a pot of chili simmering on the stove for later.  



                                 So let the game begin.  





I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Another Lucy Boston Block and Lots of Snow

We are in the midst of a record snowfall here.  The weather service says that we haven't had this much snow since 1978.  That would be when we had the big blizzard.  It has snowed an average of 1 inch an hour all day, and we have about 10 inches on the ground plus the 6 we got last Thursday. It was a good day to stay inside and sew today.   This is my newest Lucy Boston block.  These blocks are fun and really addictive.  



I was probably the only one outside taking photos in the snow today, and I'm sure I was the only one out in the snow taking photos of a quilt block.  By the time I took the first photo and cleared the lens and view finder off of my camera, the block was beginning to be covered in snow.  




This is the little crab apple tree right outside our garage.


This is the woods in our back yard.



This woods is to the south of our back yard.



This photo is looking toward the neighbors.  It was just beautiful out there today.  Now having said that, my photos are only taken about 2 steps away from a door because I tried to venture out in the back and almost fell.  It is really hard to walk when it is so deep.  



 The winds are to pick up tonight, and the temperatures are going to fall.  Most things are closed around here tomorrow, and our county is under a travel advisory.  I'm planning to stay in and do more sewing tonight and tomorrow.

Hope you are cozy and warm and finding some time to stitch!

Thanks for stopping by!

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