Twistin' the night away---twistin'.............EDITED!

 This is how I spent the last few days----machine quilting this monster donation quilt.  Really it was about time as this was the challenge quilt fabric choice for 2010.  The quilt was done in December of that year.  Yesterday all I had to do was the top and one side of the quilts piano keys and put on the binding.

Then I started piecing the giant 4 patches that will become the twister row for a Halloween row I will be doing with some of the FABS.   I called it quits when I had the longer pieces of the 4 blocks' "borders" to apply.  They are on now and ready for me to get out the twister ruler.

We are using some elements of a quilt we saw on anna lena land as inspiration.  I also ordered the Spooktacular Row quilt kit from Connecting Threads as I needed the fabric.  The pattern is gravy!  I like the cats face row and the candy corn row the best so they will probably be used in my version.  You can see some of the fabrics from the kit in the twister block starts above.  OR if you want to see the kit contents or the quilt out flat, click on the see more images, view the kit contents on the spooktacular link. 

I get the twister row done and then I can finish sewing this one together from the Belles demo though I am not entirely sure what I am going to do with the piece once it IS done, LOL.  Stick it in my Christmas sampler quilt probably. 

And I still need to piece the base from the Christmas wreath thing the Belles and I will be doing on Tuesday.  I just want to get mine done enough to show them the next step---as not everyone was present last time.  Finish it up later after I lend out my ruler at the meeting.  ( I cannot decide if I want a touch of gold border or red before I go out to the green cardinal print border so pulled all three.) 

I also took a piece of acrylic templates I had from an old Pandora set--the square that measured 3 1/2 inches and marked the lines on scotch tape as suggested in this link on the quiltingboard site.  Pat was telling us this morning that someone had cut 8 inch squares and then transferred the angles of the Lil Twister ruler to their 6 1/2 inch square ruler to make a smaller version than the 10 inch.  You really just need to establish the same angles in the line placements.  Bet it works pretty well.

I found this Trip Around the World tutorial twister version this morning----I love this idea!!  Here is the link---http://www.conniekresin.com/2011/10/worldly-lil-twister-quilt-and-giiveaway.html     All kinds of cool ideas out there!

TWO  TWISTER TIPS


Carole from my Friendship Quilters group is the one that gave the group these two suggestions when she walked us through doing the little Christmas in July twister wall hanging.

1)  Put a dot of  fingernail polish or something similar on the upper right of the ruler so you will not mess up the orientation of the cuts when you move across and down the seam lines to cut.

2)  Consider getting a cutting turntable to help with that last cut.  Normally I can get around three sides fairly easily but you are going to feel like a contortionist at some point.  Turn the mat instead of YOU. 

I just butted up the regular Big Mama ruler against where the twister had been and cut from the right side as always BUT Connecting Threads had a 40% off tool sale and that price while still more than I really wanted to pay, was more reasonable for this thing.  It has helped for cutting some of my FWIS blocks already so I guess I made an investment in ME---and more poor aching lower back.

Well, I am off to cut and then sew.  I'll post the after pictures in a bit.

.......but I wanna sew

My little half done Four T's block had been waiting since Saturday afternoon.

No sewing on Sunday or Monday though I wanted to.  It just didn't happen.  Tuesday meeting days are normally busy and I have things to follow up with once I am home.    Sometimes that might mean just putting away the stuff that I drug to the meeting with me, LOL.   I did finally finish this up while I watched the NCIS season premiere, Parenthood and followed along with the Cardinals-Astros game.

This is block 19 of my FWIS quilt----I piece one more and I'll show the group of 10 that I have been working on.  The next one up has pieced and appliqued elements but I have the applique already prepped and in the envelope, waiting.

Sunday was just a lost day creatively with laundry, grocery errands, meals to fix.   Recharge the batteries, I guess.

Monday was just plain busy getting ready to quilt.  A look in my closet with the quilt tops waiting and you will see why this needed addressed.   My partially done "My Sunshine" set aside this past May and shown in this post  is waiting.  My recently finished PopStix is hanging with backing that needs to be pieced so we can run it to the long armer----Aline and Marilyn are probably taking one (some) of their tops as well.  Then we have 4 WTIL donation tops---all that need marked in some manner and/or batting pieced.  Then we have one more pro bono top that is going to Friendship Quilters and 3 personal projects that have been waiting a good bit too.  I spend time piecing and then the quilting just waits.........and waits.  We won't even get into the 3 projects that need hand quilting done and are stalled out.

So I marked.   This Romance Challenge fabric top was completed way back in December 2010.

Bridgecreek Blossom and Modified RR Crossing, both Jan. 2011.

Then we have the Beachy modified Prairie Window dating back to September 2011.

Most of them can be seen in the 2011 Flimsy tab so I won't link back to the quilts I just mentioned.

Then we had this mess.    One of the girls had handed me a bag with some batting scraps in it recently.  The other bits are cutaways or the last of the batting roll that needed to be joined.   I got together two batts worth.  Just like putting together a patchwork puzzle in some cases but you are just tossing money away if you do NOT do it.   3 of my quilts were over-sized meaning wider than the standard 48 wide batting that we use.    Whatever ones I did not piece to fit my larger quilts is labeled waiting in the bin at the  meeting site.


We really hit it with the pinning yesterday!  I only expected to pin maybe half of my quilts but we did all 4.  Brenda had two tops, Lois and Jane each one.

I also demo'd  how to cut with a Lil Twister ruler and shared a Christmas wreath idea.  Maybe I posted it here---can't remember.  I told the girls if they wanted to cut one out and piece their base that Jane and I would bring our rulers for them to temporarily borrow. They could cut the twist-y part to make one next time.  You can either check my pinterest file or try this one on the quilting board site for the "before square layout" and the finished wreath pictures.  That IS the pattern as we assume you will know how to place your twister ruler and cut around it.

And here is the final bit of distraction for me.  I told you that Norma and I are definitely going to do a Halloween row quilt.  Cher and Pat are going to join us in this endeavor---at least in part.  My Bird Brain Witches Hooray pattern arrived with their nice heavy weight muslin to trace it on to.  Norma and I both plan on a stitchery row and this was my choice of pattern.

But first, I  have to do some paper work and figure out what the heck we are going to do for lunch today.  Run an errand or two in the map dot we live near.

Then I can sew on Block 20 one of my choosing 1495 Southern Moon---appropriate, I thought.  Should find ones that are named Alabama, Illinois, Wisconsin---all the states I have lived in but don't have a bazillion pieces too.  6 inch block, after all.

Best get to it and figure out what it is that Skyler is wanting since he is sitting by the mouse and whapping me with his tail---and has been for 10 minutes now!  Get with the program, kitty mama!

WIP Weds

This is where I left off last night at 8:30.  Another of my FWIS blocks but one of my additions and/or substitutions called "Crazy Anne"  #1856.  This is the 17th block of 111.

I used a Marti Michell suggestion on the conversion chart for this one but added another short cut to eliminate another seam.   The process I used might be a good "hint" for another post so I will get some pictures and graphics so it might make more sense than my describing it. 

I cut it out with instructions from EQ but that left that pink and background piece with a very long skinny, machine eating shape.  I would call that a recipe for disaster!!  I do own a set of Tri-Recs rulers and knew from past use they had a way of nubbing those off that made it easier to line up and stitch the pieces without guessing how much to off set the overlying piece. It appears to be right on the money but I think I need to square up those "Mary's Triangle" units a bit before I join the remaining sections. 

Of course, after I posted the other day I had to play with the Twister ruler a bit but mostly because I wanted to size a block would result if you put 4 charm squares together.  The answer was 9 inch finished (9.5 with seam allowances).  BUT I cut and stitched the whole block up and still need something for demo purposes.

Not anymore----I slapped 4 squares together and just need to put on the background bits and I'll be set for Belles on this coming Tuesday.  Maybe I'll just join the two blocks and put some sort of frame around them for another placemat??  Or more likely it will go in my long awaited Oxmoor House adapted Christmas quilt.  My blogging lefthandedquilter pal and her friend Linda are starting their Christmas race.  It was tempting to pull that out and join in but I am resisting..........for now anyway.  Too many irons in the fire at the moment.

 I was playing around with this on Monday afternoon as well.  Oh, you KNEW I would, LOL.   Pat may be joining Cher, Norma and I when we do the twister sew date.   She has a guild challenge coming up and this might be a pattern option.  I mentioned that Martha Thompson tells you to warm up to the technique by  making a placemat---or 4, LOL.   This technique is from her book Square Dance, after all, but someone made a ruler to make the cutting easier than marking around it with a template.  The acrylic ruler with feet stays put while you cut........ which is nice. 

Anyway, she says to cut the squares 4.5 inches and the border around it about 3 inches. Set the squares in a 3 x 4 grid.  Once you border the twisted stuff again it would finish up about 14 1/2 x 17 inches.  Pat wondered how big this might turn out.  Mine unstitched , measures that exactly.  If my math is correct I think I would lose 2 inches in the length and 1 1/2 in the width and that should STILL fit my plates.  I'm just goofing around and don't know what I would use for a border anyway since most of these were charms and cut 5 inch squares from another project.   That mini red print looks pink and I should have separated the colors in that dark blob in the corner, LOL.   The picture is not showing as much contrast as there is in real life.  BUT it will do for an example.   I've got more Christmas squares leftover but just not bright ones such as the ones I used in this one.  I could easily pull 12 more and whip another placemat in another colorway.

And here is another chapter in the "make me happy" category.  As a quilter who loves vintage quilts, this box is pure gold to me!  The shoe box stuffed with fabric arrived yesterday from my mom.  (I knew it was coming.)  I didn't have time to really dig through it yet but I love that red stuff on the top!!   There are bits of 30s in there too but as I said, I have not had time to look through the treasure this box contains.  THX Mom.  If not this quilt, then one down the line.

She called yesterday to tell me that she had finished the binding on a very special bed sized quilt.  I am happy dancing for her as I know it is not easy for her to do that hand work with achy wrists and hands.  She always does the donation quilt binding on the machine.  You see, the 2nd grandchild is getting married on October 6th.  Blake and Julia live in central IL about an hour from where I am from but have decided to getting married in the Denver area.  ( Julia has some family there.  So does Blake--my sister Janet and her family.)  They know that the quilt is coming.  In fact, they had asked for some of the fabric swatches to help in picking out the bed linens and curtains.  I know what pattern Mom had picked out and what color was basically selected but I cannot wait to see a picture of it.

The wedding will be small and a reception held later so no, I am not going to the wedding.  My sister Diane (the MOG) has made travel arrangements for both sets of grandparents, her husband and herself as well as Blake's sister and her husband to get out there on various time schedules but they all fly back on the same plane.  Maybe Blake and Julia are "on their own" for getting to Denver. I'll have to ask Mom the next time I talk to her.  Can't have a wedding without the bride and groom!!

Well, daylight is burning and I had planned on making some cookies to take to the quilt set up tomorrow.  We were down to 49 for an overnight temp and even with the sun beating down, it is only up 10 degrees from that now.  Translation:  I won't mind the oven being on while I bake about 5 dozen Pride of Iowa cookies, LOL.  And DJ won't mind home baked goodies either.