WIP Weds/ sew-in notes

Yesterday was the Bama Belles extended meeting, sew-in day. Jane and I were there early and found the room set up for an upcoming (or just finished?) holiday event. My guess is that they had some of the kids from the cottage they sponsor up from the Talladega Presbyterian Home---- or will have. There was a line of skirted tables right up against the wall where all the plugs are. That will NOT do for sewing day! I don't think we got those tablecloths back on exactly like they had come leaving time but we did our best to leave no traces of our being there. I appreciate everyone pitching in to get it that way.

I had encouraged the girls to work on their own project if they wished but we asked them to make a couple blocks using the Pineapple Blossom pattern. This bunch met and exceeded expectations, LOL. Since we were mostly sewing at individual tables I spread them out so the girls would get an idea of what it might look like minus the sashing and cornerstones. We are using a 4 x 6 set and the table is not wide enough but we got the idea....... and so will you, LOL.

I had scaled down the tutorial to 3 pages of print instead of Bonnie's 13 and passed those out a couple weeks back so the girls could cut the strips to size if they wanted or pull fabrics. I cut a pile of 3.5 inch muslin squares from the group's bolt of muslin so that part would be the same throughout the project. The only other instruction was keep them scrappy or a different fabric in each area of the block. Lois and I brought our pretty packed strip boxes. Aline shared some of hers as well. Bev cut strips to size and had them all separated out into 3 baskets. Wanna guess which ones we tore into first?

Lois insisted that she wanted to go home with an empty 2 inch strip box and she darned near succeeded, LOL. Even though I have a whole box of my own strips to use, I took a handful to use for sashing the top. By the time we were all ready to pack it in, we had 48 blocks done or enough for two tops. I have a stack of blocks to assemble as does Lois. In addition she had made a top at home but will add another vertical row, she said. Some of the girls took muslin and strips home with them to make more--homework. We'll just collect them as they show up till we hit 24 for another. Or the one after that, LOL.

We got Bev set up to quilt her Alabama quilt we helped her pin recently but mostly the 8 of us did blocks but she was really getting in the hang of those blocks too. Brenda helped by cutting in addition to cranking out blocks. That really helped especially when we ran out of muslin squares. I had thought I had cut plenty before hand!

Of course no sew-in is complete without good food and fellowship. That we have in spades!

Mostly I finished up the 7 blocks I had partially done from the last time I made any Pineapple Blossom Blocks but I made a couple more too. Then I got back to my Faux Log Cabin blocks from Pat's FAB par-tay. Monday I had done the chain piecing on the 1st and 2nd column of the blocks. Yesterday I was the last one to put my machine up because I had just a few more of that stack of 35 to seam! I just tossed them in the project box so I wouldn't hold up the clean up detail. They still need to be pressed and then joined.

I have an uneven number so will probably go with the Straight Furrows set. That version is easier to quilt too for a stitch in the ditcher like me. Of course I still have bunch of strips cut to size so the question will be: do I stash those strips BACK into the appropriate strip containers? Or do I make a few Picket blocks (not that I would use THOSE piecing techniques!) or Star Struck Or how about Strip Joint ( ctrl+F GE134) or Buzz Saw blocks which are pretty similar.

Obviously we need to come up with some ideas of how to use our cut strips for the next sew-in day we have in the spring! Bright Hopes maybe??

My car had to go into the shop today---the heat stays on no matter where you set the dials, even on vent. Apparently an intermittent problem because something shut in there and the vent was shooting cool air just as we approached the shop but it did that the other day when DJ checked it too. Anyway, the guys just called and said it could one of two things, about 400 bucks in labor and maybe Friday before we can pick it up. Thankfully, next week is the crazy busy week for me and I will need my wheels! Plenty of time to sew, right? Well, right after I do a little job that DJ normally does for me, that is.

Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by------