Stash Report Sunday - 27 November 2017 - Week 48

Hooray for me!  I have Allietare finished as a flimsy.  The borders are on and its folded up ready to go into it's hibernation box.  

I could really improve my camera skills, but with an old digital point-and-shoot, that probably won't happen any time soon.  I might be able to get a better shot tomorrow, if I want to open it up again, when I can get daylight shining on it.  It would have to be window light only as it rained here and the ground is wet...and it's really, really windy.

I stood on the stairs and looked down upon the quilt.

I had put the skinny inner border on yesterday.

Looking at it from the end.  Not enough room to get the whole thing.

The wider black border went on just this evening having finished around 6:15 p.m.  I'm happy it's done to this stage, and am really pleased with it.  I think it's a bit wonky in a few places, but not so badly that anyone would care...except maybe a top-notch quilt show, which isn't in its future.

I

Hanging over the upstairs railing.

My neutrals leaned far more on the white end of the spectrum.  I'm still trying to break away from neutrals being only light solids or tone-on-tones rather than as Bonnie says with the 'ground' of a fabric being anything lighter than a paper bag with any blend of colors/designs on it.  Old ways of thinking die hard, but I'm trying.  I also think I've had enough of large, bed-size quilts for quite awhile.  For this year's mystery, I'm thinking I'll only do about half, or maybe I'll make all the components and just make two smaller quilts from them even if I have to add a few extra to reach whatever dimensions look best with a smaller quilt.

With this being done to flimsy, I can now count fabric OUT of my stash, whooohooo! This will definitely help offset my purchases of the year.

Used This Week: 11.79 yards
Added This Week:  0 yards
Used 2016: 11.79 yards
Net 2016: 8.06 yards increased

Linking at Patchwork Times

Design Wall Monday - 21 November 2016 - Week 47

There's no change on my design wall, or at my sewing machine, from my post on the 19th showing my borders temporarily pinned next to Allietare.  

Border review

I keep thinking I need to just stand up, grab my tape measure and use it, and at least get the inner border's strips sewn together and cut to length...but have I?  NO.  I still need to clear all the genealogy piles of my cutting table!

Linking up at Patchwork Times.

Saturday Plans

Nick will be headed off to the rural home of his Auto Shop class teacher's home to learn to drive a manual transmission, something he's wanted to do for a long time.  In exchange for the teacher teaching him, he has to work on the man's property for four hours.  He may be 18, with two years driving behind him, but my Mama's heart still frets when he ventures out to unknown-by-me places.

Marty left before dawn to go to Yosemite with his friend for some photography shooting relaxation.  

That gives me the complete day weekend to play :)

Panda will be picking me up (or maybe I'm driving, we haven't decided that yet) around 10:00 so that we can go to another town to look for the elusive magenta-colored fabric for Bonnie Hunter's 2016 mystery quilt, En Provence.  There are at least two quilt shops in the area we'll be headed, and who knows, we may travel even further.  We'll have lunch out as well. 

I've not sewn the borders onto Allietare yet, but I did pin the chosen fabrics up to one edge so that I could get a picture of how it will look together.

The black fabric is just the folded yardage, not yet cut to correct size.  I think it really adds a lot and pulls out the black star points and small squares.  

Only a few more days until we get our first instructions for En Provence.  I'm glad it's not a race to see who finishes first, because while I'm anxiously anticipating it, I'm thinking I may end up just about as slow about doing it as I was Allietare.  There's a whole lot of genealogy still occupying every flat surface in my Creation Station and I can't get to my cutting mats without moving it.

At the Border

Allietare is ready for borders - as soon as I trim the white rectangles that extend off the sides.  

Allietare

And on a side note, I was craving a slice of a quality bakery cake after having watched an entire season's marathon baking challenge but there are no such bakeries around that I'm aware of.  I needed sweet and cake and icing, so....next best thing: boxed lemon poppy seed muffins (Krusteaz) with cream cheese frosting flavored with lemon, almond and vanilla extracts.  I enjoyed two of them before they had time to cool off.  Hit the spot!! and craving is gone, but I still have more to enjoy :)

lemon poppy seed muffin with cream cheese icing

Getting Closer

Flame is happy that I have half of Allietare finished, folded and tossed onto the ironing board.

The other half is pinned and ready to be sewn.  I won't get to it until tonight though. 

Design Wall Monday - 07 November 2016

These weeks are passing far too rapidly!  Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and Christmas will be right behind it.  I told Marty a couple days ago that we should encourage Nick to work on Thanksgiving if the day is offered to him, and then we'll go to that restaurant for dinner...and I won't have to mess with kitchen duties that day.  Not sure that idea took off.

So, on my design wall today is still the same as last week, but I have made progress.  Half, plus the central row, of Allietare is sewn into two-row segments.  Who knew pinning to get the points just right would be such a time-consuming factor.

Here is the corner section after pressing.

Two more seams to sew on this half (above) for this portion to be done.

My chief quilt examiner says "do you like my hat?".  She was seriously inspecting those blocks just moments before.

Housework, and taming clutter is still calling...how did it get so far behind, and what do I do with all that needs to go?  Trash, recycle, donate, sell...it's all calling.  My aunt will be here in January, and I'd like to have made substantial headway by then.  

Linking up at Patchwork Times.

Something New

Monday night, Panda stopped by my house to see my Allietare blocks.  We usually meet at her place.  Our meeting was a little later in the day than usual, Nick was off to work already, and Marty was in Phoenix for three days, so that gave us the perfect excuse to go out and grab dinner.  We decided to eat at the restaurant Nick works at and since it was a quiet night there, he was able to sit down for a few minutes with us.  He also asked if I could take his rig and get gas for him (lol, I'm the one with the credit card), so Panda had no objection and we took care of that.  

Panda wanted to go to JoAnn's to look at Ott-Lites, so we did.  I've considered getting one myself, probably since I first started quilting back around 1999, but could never make up my mind as to which one.  Too many choices boggle my mind.  A 40% off sale was going on (pretty common) but while we were there we learned there had been a 60% off sale on the lights.  Boo, hiss, how'd we miss?  I finally chose the one with the flip light thinking it would be the best both for my small area, and for those times when I go to quilt camp.  I had one of those tiny little clip on lamps, but wasn't impressed in the long run with it.

Ott-Lite box.

Letting the light shine on my work space.  It made a huge difference! I didn't realize just how dim my space was until I lit that thing up! WOW!!  This will make it so much easier on my eyes...maybe even on my sewing accuracy?

This is all the space it takes up, just a little corner of my table.  The light turns on and off by flipping up that front part.  This model has been around for years and years, and I'm sure many of you have them.  Besides the 40% off, I utilized a $25 gift card I've had since July, so that made the cost pretty low.  Still, another 20% off (from the 60% off sale) would have been nice too.  

Panda said she had priced them at Hobby Lobby, and with this sale, the better price was at JoAnn's.  I don't think I've mentioned that we recently had a Hobby Lobby open up here.  I've not been to it yet.  

I'm having dinner out again tonight, so I think I'll keep working on those Allietare rows in the couple hours I have between now & then.  I have sets of two blocks sewn together from each row, so now they'll become four-block strips, more or less, depending on the row length.

Moving Right Along

I'll apologize up front for the poor image, but this room is just not big enough nor empty enough to stand far enough away to get a full image.

Yesterday while I was waiting for my usual meet-up with my friend Panda, I went ahead and laid out all the blocks onto the design wall.  Hah, definitely 'fun' with the vertigo.  Just happy I didn't fall off that stool.

Here's how it was looking.  I moved that brighter yellow-centered star block from the far left edge, down to the bottom row so it looks a little more balanced.  Moving blocks around could become crazy-making, so I'm calling it good-to-go, and will now sew them as they are.

Sitting as close as I do to the design wall it looks busy.  When Panda arrived, she thought it looks busy too. That's funny because I thought this one looked less busy than those of the last couple years.  

Design Wall Monday

I spent quite awhile on Saturday working on Allietare.  It would be really nice to have it at least ready for borders before Bonnie releases her colors for this year's mystery, but I'm afraid that's not going to happen.  It'll be close!  

For weeks I stared at this on my design wall while working on genealogy.  

Star block for Allietare.

All of the Star blocks had been finished and this is just a sampling.  Then I'd pinned the components of the alternate block and it languished for quite awhile.  Saturday was spent getting all of that sewn, including a little unsewing and resewing.  Also sewn were the setting triangle units as this quilt is set on point.  And now, this is what is showing on my design wall.

The two blocks side x side on the design wall.

This is not how the individual blocks will be placed, I need to lay them out on the floor and move some around before sewing, but the blocks are done.  You might notice that at the top left is one of the setting blocks, but it's not properly positioned as the Star blocks will be on the outer row all around rather than the ones I refer to as the 'square' blocks.  That makes a difference in how the gray fits together.

I'll be meeting with my friend Panda later today to show her my progress and then when I get home, I can lay all the blocks out.  I might pin them to the design wall, but this is a pretty big quilt and I'm not sure there's enough room.  My vertigo has been acting up so getting up & down on a stool while looking up and down, may not be the wise thing to do.

Linking up to Patchwork Times.

Stash Report - 23 October - Week 43

It's been quite some time since I posted a stash report.  It seems a bit pointless to do so when I know I haven't purchased anything, and I haven't finished anything either to the point of being able to count as out.  But, since it has been so long, I thought I'd go ahead and put my stats for the year out there.

Used This Week: 0 yards
Added This Week:  0 yards
Used 2016: 0 yards
Added 2016: 13.6 yards

Linking at Patchwork Times.

I'm wondering if I'll be able to get Allietare's rows put together by next week, or the week after even.  I think then I can count some fabric out; then the borders will go on and I can count more fabric out.  This year may not be a total bust after all!

Not Gone...But Maybe Forgotten

I've not fallen off the face of the earth.  I've just not been in a quilty groove of late.  I am still working on Allietare when I do sew, and some more has been accomplished.  I last left off back in early September with having pinned the block elements of the second block.  And that's how the project remained until Monday, when I put in an hour of sewing time.  Here are the results:

These units sewn together.

More sewn units.  These will be trimmed even with the red eventually.

These were sewn too!

As were these...and these were the simplest with just the plain seam.

And we can't forget these.

The basic block layout.  All the units are stacked in order.

I now need to press the sewn units, then do some more pinning before sewing.  After that, the three 'rows' of the blocks can be pinned, sewn, pressed, and then I'll be able to lay them out on the design wall and start pinning and sewing into rows, which will eventually become a flimsy!  

At this rate, as I've heard the rumblings that this year's mystery colors, etc. will be released soon, I will not have this one done before then.  Interestingly, just today on my real me facebook, I checked the On This Day feature, and in 2014, the Grand Illusion mystery quilt information was released.  So I'm expecting for this year's to show up any day.  I caught one of Bonnie's recent posts where she said her new triangle tool was going to be used for it; I hope it's not a requirement.  At this time, I have no plans to purchase it (I believe she's out of stock but it's on order), and with my lack of quilting mojo, may just follow along this year, while I slowly finish working on Allietare!

Fifth of September & Design Wall Monday

I had started a quilty post on the first, side-tracked myself to my DOOW blog, and here I am at the fifth...and today is my grandson's sixth birthday! I wish he was close enough to visit.

Two of the star blocks.

On the wall.

I have the Star Block done on Allietare and am now working on the second block.  It's component 9-patches are done and I have pinned so the first parts can be sewn to each other.  If I remember correctly, Bonnie Hunter releases her colors and fabric requirements around the end of October for the next mystery quilt, so I'd better get busy and get more of that sewing done!!  Once the blocks are done, then they can be sewn block to block, then row to row, and then a flimsy will be done.  There are the pieced setting triangles to sew as well.  I have those prepped and pinned too.  Slow progress, but progress none-the-less, and for me, it hasn't been a race.  

pinned elements

more pinned elements

oh my, I see a problem - note the direction of the lower right corner unit - oops!

My bowtie units were sitting around in a bin and were accidentally knocked to the floor one spilling them all over the place.  I picked them up but just plopped them back in the bin.  One day I decided I'd better straighten them up and re-group them.  They are now all matched up and I discovered I have plenty to make a good-sized lap quilt.  Maybe I already knew that, but it's been long forgotten.

Now that the Allietare component pieces have been pinned, I need to get them sewn.  I'm hoping to work on that sometime this week.  Some of these bow ties are not complete either.  Come to think of it, I have a lot of "incompletes" in my sewing world, and one is my grandson's quilt.  It's layered and pinned; I need to decide just how I'm going to quilt it.

Connecting at Judy's Patchwork Times.  What's on your design wall?

Design Wall Monday - Week 29, 18 July 2016

The weeks are slipping by.  I won't be posting much over the next couple of weeks (no surprise?) as Nick and I will be headed to the wet land in just a few days, staying at my aunt's when we get there.  She has limited band-width, so I will do my part in the consideration area and not use up her allotment!

I squeezed some sewing in this past week, though not as much as I should have.  I was working on the gray/neutral/black corners for the one block of Allietare.

Bonnie had us press the seams a specific way on this but that just wasn't working for me.  So my 'compromise' was to do something I often do when I'm attempting to match up triangle points, I snipped into the seams so that I could see the points I was trying to match up.  Prior to snipping the seam, I tried just placing the pins, and drawing a little line where the first pin went in, but that was really a pain, not to mention finding the point in the first place and keeping the seems nestled.  The pair of scissors I use is not very pointy which keeps me from accidentally snipping the seam. 

I apologize for the blurry photos, seems my camera just didn't want to focus well.  You should still be able to see that I stick a pin straight into the point, then - what you can't see - stick it into the other piece's point that it'll match up to.  See how I laid the snipped portion of the seam in the opposite direction, thereby leaving the rest of the seam as Bonnie instructed so that it can match up later.  I find by snipping and laying this way, that the point seams nestle better too - less bulk.  I've done this often in projects, and have never had a problem with the seams opening. 

With the first pin still straight into the points, I then take more pins, placing on either side of the seam and pin the pieces together.  This keeps the seams and points in their properly aligned places.

This shows the first pin from the back side and how it is aligned with the point on the second piece. 

Now, with the points and seam properly aligned, when I sew the two components together I don't have to guess whether I'll hit the point or not, I can SEE where I'm hitting, because face it, my 1/4-inches aren't always perfect in order to just line up the edges of the fabric and run them through at a scant 1/4" - I do a lot of wiggling and adjusting when I sew, and in the end, it all comes out right and flat.  It's amazing how off things can be by just a thread here, or a thread there.

That's what's on (off) my design wall this week.  When I get back, I'll get those seams sewn - they're only pinned at the moment, and then I can begin connecting all the components so that they become actual blocks.

Linking up at Patchwork Times. 

Wasn't In The Mood

On Monday, I posted what was on my design wall and that to finish Step 4 of Allietare, I needed only to sew the seams of the matched sets of headless geese, the units with the black, red, and neutral - the halves were termed headless geese because they're similar to flying geese blocks, but they don't meet at center.

I clearly was not in the mood, or mindset to be working on sewing.  The time just dragged by.  It seemed more a tedious chore to do all those seams, and then press, than the joy it should have been.  After a little over two hours I had accomplished my task, and was thankful it was done.  Quilting mojo will eventually return...I hope!

A sample of how the block will look.  I'm happy.  All seams came out well and I didn't have to rework any of them.  I think the next step has me putting together the black square with the gray & neutral triangle blocks for the corner sets of the other block. 

Design Wall Monday - Week 23 (13 June 2016)

I'm still working on Allietare of course.  

I could get a little sewing in today; it's been a week again.  Panda and I aren't meeting today as she's out of town, but we will meet next week, so I need to make some progress.

A couple of pics: 

The pieces that go into the 'white space' are the ones I'll be sewing the last seam on today. 

Then I'll be able to sew the four pieces together which make up the corner units for this block.

The link is up at Judy's Patchwork Times.

Surfacing

I've been absent from my blogs again. But you knew that, didn't you?

One reason for not having any quilty stuff to report on was that I was busy with genealogy (you can read about that at DOoW.  Why that's a problem is that typically, I spread out everywhere on every SURFACE with papers and would have to put them away in order to sew.  So, I hadn't sewn in over a month.

But, guess what that meant!  Rearranging! Again!  I know, I know, but something had to work so that when I do genealogy, I don't have to put it away to sew, and vice-versa.  Each time I'd put the one away to work on the other, I'd have to completely review and figure out where I left off.  I needed a better solution.

From previous posts, you know all about my Creation Station space and the dilemmas of arrangement with the furnishings I have.   Well, something came to mind one day, I pulled out my tape measure and realized 'it will fit' in the way I was considering.  Ultimately the problem was more that I didn't want my back to the door than anything else so I had been limiting my options.  

Against the wall, under the window - no free SURFACE space.

I moved the sewing cabinet/desk directly against the wall under the window.  The right end butts up to a 2-drawer file cabinet, the left side has ample space for the black cabinet drawers to open with ease.  See how much stuff gets pulled out onto that surface?

No open space on this SURFACE!

This is how much stuff is piled up on my CUTTING table surface.  We had to get a new printer... it has a slightly larger footprint than the old one, but I can once again scan my photos and documents. Hehe, I just realized my calendar is still on May.

There's a raise-able shelf behind the door.

Behind this cabinet door is a lifting platform and originally I thought I could raise it and set my laptop on it.  That was problematic - I couldn't access the drawer, it was hard to lower, the metal support interfered with my knee and I didn't have sufficient elbow room on the left and there was no place for a mouse pad - I don't do well with those built-in thumb pads on laptops.  I had pulled the portable sewing machine table close by to use for the mouse, but that proved cumbersome and was not the right height.

Pretty crowded SURFACEs here too

I was wanting to get back to sewing, so moved the portable table to where the little white desk had been prior to getting the black cabinets...and realized I could turn it so that it faced the window, also allowing TV viewing ease, so brought another chair up from downstairs.  Right behind that chair to the left, is the door to the fabric stash closet.  When the chair is rolled under the table, easy access for the door to open.  This works well...and I was able to sew! and not have to put away all of my genealogy stuff.

rolling desk

The solution to the laptop area, was to again lower that shelf, close the door (I was using the area for odds & ends storage only) and bring the little desk back in.  It has wheels, and rolls easily, so if I need to access the drawer or cupboard, I can easily roll it to the right a little.  The ironing board is directly behind it, so when it's needed, I just roll the desk away from it.  This too is working well...and the desk is lower so it's a better height for me for typing, and there's room for my mouse and a few other things.  I now have two separate work stations!

The new arrangement actually provides a more open feel as I enter the room.  Now, on to some sewing progress.  I pulled out my Allietare bin and got to work.  I progressed through a couple of the steps.

Allietare parts

This is where I have now left off with Allietare.  I think this is part of Step 4.  Pinned and ready to run under the needle.

more Allietare parts

These are some of the other components that have been ready to go since each step was released.  I kept up with the cutting with each step, but not the sewing since I was waiting on my friend Panda to return home, and she wanted us to work on them together.

I know all looks very cluttered in my Creation Station, but I can work in it.  Both sewing and genealogy can be accomplished.  In time, as I progress with my projects, it will get better.  Still need wall cabinet(s) to replace the shelves next to the portable sewing table (see the 4th picture - either direction).  It'll hold the supplies that don't need to be out on the surfaces.  I have hope it will look better in the future, and I'll be more productive with both of my hobbies now that I can leave both works in progress out all the time.

March-ing On

February has blurred right on past us, even with an extra day!  

Yesterday was the first day in a week in which I've touched my sewing machine.  I worked on the first half of the blocks (the 'headless geese') of Part 2 for Allietare.  I have yet to press the corners up and make sure they all measure correctly.  The week before, I'd spent all of 12 minutes doing 4 units (to make one block) of Part 2, so that when I get together with Panda, we can compare how we're doing.    She sent a message saying she was having a problem with her Part 2 units but didn't elaborate.  I took a look when we got together, I convinced her she was doing ok but should be pressing the other direction.  All is well. 

Stacks of -headless geese - and 4 units of 'Santa hats'.

We spent about 5 minutes conferring on our projects and then headed to the mall....I'll continue with life from the past couple of weeks over on Duck Out of Water in order to keep this blog quilt/craft-related.  I hope you'll join me there.

Oh Those Triangle Squares

Yesterday was my day to visit my padawan.  We mostly just sat and chatted, but I took along my Alllietare project to show her.  

It began raining yesterday about the same time I left to go over and was raining a little more by the time I came home.  I pulled in the driveway and just sat for a few minutes to take in that wonderful rain, and the sound it made hitting the car roof.  I do love the rain, and while today started still with some clouds, as forecasted the skies cleared early and we're expecting 90-degree temps again within the next couple days.  

Today, I decided I needed to catch up on some DVR recordings as I was out of space and lost a couple of recordings, so while the TV was on across from my work surface, I continued working on Part 1 of Allietare.  I'd sewn about 1/4 of the triangle squares on Monday before going over to Panda's, but hadn't sewn since.  I now have all those units done, including pressing and trimming off the dog ears.

triangle-square units

The photo seems a little washed out. My grey is a medium, and my neutrals are mostly whites and lighter creams.  

I'm not sure how soon I'll start Part 2.  I don't want to get too far ahead of Panda.  Easy for me to do as I will sit and keep working non-stop, while she has her days filled with other activities so may not get as much done as quickly.  I'm happy to be working on this.  I see so many beautiful ones out in blogland, and of course, saw Bonnie's in person on Monday night.  I think it's my favorite of the four (including this one) I've done of her mystery quilts.

Unexpected Pleasures

A couple of days ago, when I first found out that Bonnie Hunter was going to be in a town not too far away, I determined to go so I could see her presentation.   I asked my friend Panda if she'd like to go, but she already had plans.

Panda and I are meeting on Mondays to see how we're each doing on Allietare.  When I got there she was cutting some of the first units to make a first block wanting to be sure she likes her color choices.   She's using pinks and purples in lieu of the golds and reds.  

Part 1 triangle squares...and trimmings

I had managed to get about a quarter of the first step done and made sure they all measured correctly and trimmed the dog ears.  

Panda let me know that her original plans may fall through, and they did, so she was free to join me in going to hear Bonnie.  What a treat, we BOTH get to go! 

We left, allowing lots of time expecting freeway congestion as it was rush hour, but as my husband mentioned earlier in the day, being a holiday traffic would be lighter, and it was.  We arrived an hour early which gave us plenty of time to go grab a bite to eat.  We quickly found an Outback Steak House, where I enjoyed a bowl of baked potato soup and a side Caesar salad - perfect combo.

We arrived at the meeting, and met Bonnie right away as she was selling and autographing her books - how could I resist?  The problem was, I knew I had two of her books, I just couldn't remember which ones, so I picked one up, flipped through and figured it was one I didn't have - she also said it was her most recent and I knew I didn't have that one yet.  I made my purchase and then she obliged me with a picture.  I'm not usually a "star struck" kind of person, but Bonnie Hunter I think is an exception.  I LOVE her scrappy quilts and the challenge to use from my stash. Do you know that her quilts look even better in person?  Flat photography, no matter how good, just doesn't do them justice.  And I'm still amazed at how much she accomplishes with such a busy schedule.

I know many out there have already been to some of her events, or been on cruises and other adventures with her so you know what I mean when I say she is very personable, warm, passionate and unpretentious.  She is truly a gift to the quilting world.  We thoroughly enjoyed her presentation and are so happy we could both go. 

Design Wall Monday & (14 February 2016 Stash Report Sunday)

Design Wall:
I'm getting started on Allietare this morning,

These are the first three pieces to be sewn of the first step.  I did all my cutting as the clues were released.  I'll be meeting with Panda this afternoon briefly, so I need to have something to share with her.  She hasn't cut hers yet, so maybe this spur her on.  In fairness, she keeps a pretty busy schedule.  After that, I'll make a long drive so that I can see this project's author at a guild meeting she's the guest lecturer at :).  I missed her last year up in the Portland area, so am going to make the drive - it's the closest opportunity I'll get to go to.


Stash Report:
In an earlier post I mentioned that I'd gone with my friend Panda to a couple of stores for her to get fabric for her Allietare.  At the second store, I was tempted when I saw a remnant bin with some neutrals in it.  I bought three pieces.  The largest was a full yard, and cost $4.97.  I'm happy with that.  The bin had even larger 'remnant' pieces at 1/2 price; some at three yards or more.  Good remnants! 

Used This Week: 0 yards
Added This Week:  2.37 yards
Used 2016: 0 yards
Added 2016: 3.27 yards

Linking at Patchwork Times.