My design wall is blank today.  I haven’t been working on anything new, just sewing the endless pieces for the Storm at Sea quilt.  Only 78 more to go.  I broke them into piles of ten, so I can sit and sew for a bit and feel like I accomplished something.

I bought some fabric last week.  I saw this pretty panel in the connecting threads catalog, and found it, along with coordinating fabrics, at the Fat Quarter Shop .  The line is called “Santa Fe” by Sarah Watts for Cotton and Steel.

I have a design brewing in my head, I want to see if I can work it out in EQ8 and actually produce a finished design of my own.

I have been knitting on my hemp sweater sleeve.  I had to re-start it, as I figured out that I wasn’t increasing enough stitches and my sleeve was too long and narrow.  The instructions were a bit vague, something like “increase at each end”. but the sleeve is knit in the round, so technically there aren’t two ends, just a beginning.

I am also trying to decide wether or not to join the Curious Handmade Shawl KAL this year.  It starts next week, six shawls in six months.  I am currently involved with the Sock KAL, but that is a pair of socks every two months.  I may just get the pattern set and keep it in my library.  Helen Stewart patterns are so well written, and the resulting knitwear is very nice.  The price works out to be around 20.00 for six different shawl patterns.  Her blog is at Curious Handmade  she also does a regular podcast that is interesting.

Linking up with Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday today.

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I have been working on piecing this week.  So many pieces.  It’s beginning to feel like a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt.  Make 150 of these, cut 475 of these, combine these to make this.  I’m happy that this is just a double bed size quilt.  I also went and got more paper foundations printed, the right size this time.  When did printing get so expensive?  I went to a mailing center for the first set and it was 18 cents a sheet, I asked for a discount, due to volume and got them at 16 cents.  This time I went to a chain printing shop and used their DIY machine for 13 cents a sheet.  I am wondering if it is cheaper to just print at home.  The ink cartridges are so expensive, and laser toner is too.  Quick math: a black ink cartridge for my machine is 38.99 and it will print ~480 sheets which works out to about 8 cents a sheet.  Answered my own question there.

 

In between the sewing marathons, I have been knitting a sweater pattern called “All Over Lace”.  I’m using hemp yarn, which isn’t the easiest yarn to work with, but I didn’t know that when I bought it.  I got the yarn/pattern from Lana Knits at Stitches West back in February.  I saw and felt the sample sweater and really liked the drape and look of it.  I didn’t realize that the sample sweater had been washed and handled into its soft drape-y-ness.  Hemp yarn is a lot like linen, crunchy feeling, sometimes I feel like I could fold and crease it.  This company has a few different kinds of hemp yarn, AllHemp and AllHemp Lux are the ones I got.  The Lux is a bit more processed, so it is softer to begin with, sort of like new jeans compared to old broken in jeans.  I started the sleeve yesterday, hoping I don’t end up with a one sleeved sweater due to Second Sleeve (sock) Syndrome.

I did some straightening of my sewing room, not quite spring cleaning, but now there are a few less piles and a bit less clutter.  I changed out a short book case for a taller one, and got the books in it organized.   I am trying to get a list together of all the projects I have in my to-do box.  These are projects that I haven’t started, and aren’t UFOs.  That’s a different list.  I try to keep things together for each one, but as time passes, the ideas/patterns get lost, or separated from their pile.  I thought a Master list might help, it seems to be having an eye opening effect as well.  So many projects so little time, so much fabric…nah, that’s not a problem.

Linking up with Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday today.  Judy is finishing up her Dear Jane quilt, only three more blocks, wow.

This past week I have been working on my “tamed” version (as opposed to the Chaos version) of the batik Storm at Sea quilt. I cut most of the pieces only to realize that I didn’t have enough fabric.  I carefully did all the math and figured out I was about 3 yards short of the lightest blue.  This necessitated a trip to the LQS for more.  There was still plenty left on the bolt, although I hadn’t started sewing at that point, so getting a different one wouldn’t have mattered too much. I would have to recut the hundreds of pieces I had, but luck was on my side.

I put together a sample block, as I want to use it as a reference to make the next 48.  I sewed all nine components, and lay them out to see how it was looking, and to make sure they were all facing the right way and in the correct place.  Something didn’t look right.

The diamond in a rectangle blocks were a 1/2 inch too big.  Thankfully I had only made four of those, I need 196 of them for the double/full size quilt.  Let’s hear it for sample blocks!  I couldn’t figure out why the paper pattern was bigger, I printed them out from the same web site Quilters Cache and they worked for the first two I had done. I had printed three at home, taped them together and had them multi-copied at a local office store.  Then I realized that I didn’t measure the one inch box before I printed the page off the web.  The other parts were printed from extra papers I had left over from the first S@S I made using them.  Sigh.  My consolation is that those five other units are correctly sized.

I’ve been chain piecing the corner blocks for a few days now.  I try to do 50 a day, but realistically it’s more like thirty.  The squaring up is an extra time consuming step.  Not that I mind, because having perfectly square units and blocks is the reward.

In other doings, I got all the needed fabrics and pattern for the Forest Floor quilt.  I am hoping to get to it next.  I am thinking I need to make a list of projects that I have all the materials for, and should be making.  I’ve been having too many “Oh I forgot about this” moments when looking for other things in my stash.  I think there are at least ten, maybe I need some goals, or something.  They aren’t official UFOs, but still…

Linking up with Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for design wall Monday.  Judy is working on her Dear Jane quilt this week, check it out.

Consistency  – the agreement or harmony of parts or features to one another or a whole.

This week I worked on putting the blocks for a log cabin top together.  This was not the first time, I’ve done plenty of log cabin blocks over the years.  I like them, they are easy to cut, assembly line sew, and there is a myriad of  ways to put them together.  The main thing about them is consistency.  Consistently sized pieces, seams and blocks.  My blocks always turn out 1/2 inch smaller than they should. It’s just the way it is. I’ve tried pressing them different ways, thin thread, thick thread, starch, no starch, squaring as I go, the list goes on.  I have accepted this consistency of mine and I will move on.  This quilt top is all log cabins, so as long as they are all the same size, it will go together and no one will ever suspect they aren’t the “right” size.  I just noticed that there is a block turned in the second row, I’ll fix it before I sew them together.

The problems begin when combining them with other blocks.  Like I had with assembling the “Simply Amish 2″ quilt from a few years ago.  Those LCB’s were taken apart and re-sewn with a 1/8” seam allowance, which made for the right size in the end.  I am wondering it I should make all my LCBs with 1/8 seam allowance hence forth, as if I learned from my mistakes ;). My next project with LCB’s is called “Forest Floor” by Wing and a Prayer quilts.  Its got 16 cabins in it and some elongated ones in the borders.  I really like the colors and composition of this quilt.  Plus I have a whole set of digital quilt designs that go with it.

But first I need to start and finish the Blue Storm at Sea quilt.  I got the fabrics together, and now I have to get the foundations printed.  Maybe today, as I have to drive over to civilization and I’ll be passing a few Kinkos or Office depots for sure. There will be math involved in figuring out how many sheets, but as long as its easier to figure than taxes, I’m good.

Linking up with Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for design wall Monday.  Its her birthday, stop by and wish her a happy day!

There isn’t anything on my design wall today.  That’s kinda weird.  Usually there is something going on.  I’ve been itching to start something new, but maybe its a good time to pull out a UFO.

This week I finished up the falling squares quilt, I added borders of equilateral triangles. They are made from the same scraps that I made the top from, alternating with some extra/cut-off backing fabric that I used for a quilt using these same fabrics.

I quilted and bound two baby quilts, the first is for my DH’s associate, the baby is due in June.  Yay! it’s done with time to spare.  The second is made from the last of the storybook fabric line scraps.  I’m happy to see the end of those, any thing thats left will go into the 2 1/2″ square bin.

 

After quilting those two, I decided to get my Sue Garman “Cox Comb Medallion” quilt on the frame.  I needed a backing, that was easy, this pretty gray floral was just the right amount.  I basted it on the frame and threaded up with some Mono-poly clear.  There is a lot going on in this quilt, so I thought it would be a good place to practice SID quilting.

It was going along swimmingly,  I reduced my top tension to 1 and was using bottom line in the bobbin.  Then my machine sounded like it was full of gravel.  Grinding gravel.  Not good.  I stopped and checked everything, no thread nests, no lodged pins, no vibrating things, nothing visibly wrong.  I started again, still making dreadful noises.  I shut it down and quit for the day.  I figured I could bring it in to the shop the next day.  Next morning I had to get the machine off the frame. Only 8 screws were involved, along with two poles and two cables.  As you can imagine that took about an hour to disassemble, I tried to leave my quilt on, but had to unpin it from the take up rail.  Long arms are relatively simple machines, but they are large and mine weighs about 40 lbs.  I was on the road to the shop by 10:30.  Luckily the machine guy wasn’t busy and he brought it in to the store and plugged it in.  Of course it worked perfectly.  Together we disassembled the coverings to look inside and make sure there were no problems.  But from what we could see, nothing was amiss.  The innards are mostly circuit boards and computer stuff anyway.   So back home it came, and after another hour of reassembly, I was quilting again.  The mechanic thinks I may have dislodged whatever was making the noise when I put it in my car.  In hindsight I should have made a video, then took the machine in.

In other news, I have given up on the scrappy Storm at Sea top, it is together and in the TBQ pile.  I think it’ll make a good picnic quilt, or dog quilt 🙂 I decided to start over with four shades of blue batiks and a definite pattern for the colors.  I’m still waiting for the yardage to arrive and I need to print out a few hundred paper foundations.  Thankfully this quilt is only sized for a double bed.

I am knitting the second pattern of Curious Handmade Sock KAL called Magnolia.  I am using yarn I got at Stitches West back in February.  The brand is La Jolla and the color way is Saturn Harvest.  This sock is going quickly, I am up to the instep after a week.  I got new Addi-turbo needles for this sock, but unfortunately I bought 24 inch ones.  They are too short to use for two-at-a-time socks.  I’ll have to make them one at a time.

Linking up with Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday today.