Design Wall Monday

"Winter" officially finished when I sewed on the beads this morning. Glamour shot, LOL.

Now moving on to the design wall part----Twisted Sister blocks below. I decided on the "truly twisted" version for the blocks. Half twist clockwise and the other half, counterclockwise just by flipping the strip set over and cutting from the wrong side.






The other blocks are orphan blocks from my mom but the primrose star thing is one of mine. One of these days I will assemble all of them, plus more, into a donation top.

I have 13 of the required 24 for the top done. I'll get back to piecing in a few minutes though I doubt it will get the top assembled for a few days anyway.

Tomorrow I clean up in here since company is coming soon. I doubt that the pile of binding will still be sitting there for much longer. Of course, cleaning up gets me a few days of handwork as I don't want to make a big mess and track strings all over the place----again, LOL.

And so it goes-----------

sewing plans

I grabbed a kit out of the stacking drawer unit this morning that will be #4 of 11n11 donation challenge. It is the Ami Simms' Twisted Sister that my mom cut and kitted up for me. She had one strip set sewn and sub-cut to remind me where I am headed---green backgrounds and white arms on this one with a stack of yellow centers.

What you probably can't tell is that she has the green and white strips layered right sides together for each of the strip sets! They are all ready to feed into the machine. And I thought I was organized! WTG, Mom!

She also cut me a big pile of 5 1/2 inch green strips that I will need to provide a background and center square for, not a problem there. I have made two of these in the past--maybe two years ago?? (yep, May 2009 there is a picture of one I finished) I will need to review the directions first or look at Ami's good tutorial online. Partial seaming, not a problem there either.

Mom may need to remind me if we were doing some of the variation ideas for it though. Ami shows one that you cut half one way and half reversed for "Truly Twisted" I can see how one could accidentally cut some of them wrong if you folded the strip. I have no doubt that someone discovered this set in a happy accident, LOL. You can see what I mean by clicking HERE for one in the gallery pages of Twisted Sister quilts. Or review other sets in the gallery HERE.

Maybe I will finally try the Eleanor Burns similarly sounding named pattern "Twin Sisters" but bump up the strip size it calls for with the rest of the greens?? Now there is an idea! I have been wanting to try that since Lois has been making them--you can see one of hers HERE. It is from Burns' book Quilts Through the Seasons but I found a pdf file of instructions when I googled it. It states that the block was originally published by the Ladies Art Company under the name of Twin Sisters. Other published names according to EQ's BlockBase (Barbara Brackman) are Water Wheel, Whirlwind, Windmill and Pinwheel. Eleanor probably has streamlined the piecing but it is an old pattern. I'll mull this over, LOL and save it for a "down the line" idea.

I should be starting to clean house but it can wait another day. I don't intend to do it all in one day anyway and wear myself out. DJ's golfing buddy from IL is supposed to be here either Thursday or Friday. Whether or not the weather will cooperate to play a round or two is another story. If we are as cold as it has been lately, he will move on further South. Either way. the house will be neat and tidy even if all he does is walk into my kitchen and leave for breakfast with DJ.

Off to hit the strip sets................see how far I get today.

Happy St. Pat's

I woke up a bit ago to a quiet house and Skyler curled up beside me. DJ planned on heading out for 9 holes of golf so must have gone? Stayed in bed another 20 minutes enjoying it till I remembered it was St. Pat's and that corned beef needed to get in the crockpot! I had fixed the green dessert stuff yesterday morning when I made a seafood pasta salad for our Monday evening meal. Just in case I pulled on some green socks for the trip to the kitchen just so I wouldn't get pinched should he be reading quietly in the kitchen. Oh so cute with the pj's and bed head, LOL. It turns out that Skyler and I DID have the house to ourselves for a little while. (He's birdwatching in the sewing room perch and I'm posting, still in my jammies)


I got both Twisted Sister donation tops done this weekend. The blocks are arranged slightly differently on both and the reds are slightly different too should they be going to the same location in the future. Since all but one block are in pairs I can imagine a child playing a matching game with them. Both are bright, happy quilts and were the perfect foil for a dark, damp, gloomy and rainy weekend. I had the perfect backing fabric for one of them in my stash filed in the yellow and orange bin. Orange with a lime green squiggle if you remember that one, Mom from the Hancock's sale table -- enough leftover for binding both of them. I used more of that background fabric color for the other one which will also help to distinguish one from the other. Ellen sent a big roll of the gold on gold for the Belles and I to use so it shows up a lot but I have yet to tire of it.


Yesterday I spent some time quilting these two tops for my pal Marilyn for pay. Yep, my favorite 30's repros, LOL. We share that love. She had enough backing fabric of the pink for me to make binding for it. There is a possibility that she will turn the backing to the front to finish off the lilac one. I decided I better run a row of quilting around the edges on it. Essentially I am done with them though and can call her to have them picked up.

6 others wait in my stack. My WTIL challenge top shown HERE is on tap for today. I am not as crazy about the blue on gold fabric but that is what makes that a challenge, I guess. Should I get done what that top, I'll start on the one of other green Habitat challenge tops 2 of the girls turned in at the Christmas party shown HERE. Scroll down to Marilyn's and Linda S's top--that's the ones in my pile that Nancy fired the girls up to pin last week. The only other one in the closet was turned in early in the year. I am not quite sure just how I want to quilt Lois' flying geese in the cabin top that I volunteered for. I don't free motion and this is not one that I want to practice on either. I don't think I want to go in every line and SID either. Any suggestions? Several of the girls have been asking if I have any ready to bind lately. Nope, I am working on some of my own stuff, I have replied. I should be able to oblige when we meet again on the 24th!

That's about it from my house. I'll be the one hunched over the sewing machine and listening to the last chapters of Live Bait by P.J. Tracy. I don't know if the latest developments are a red herring or not but I am sure to find out this afternoon!

hip to be square--EDITED

Yeah, I'm back---and posting two days in a row

I thought I was finished with enough blocks for two donation quilts but turns out I need four more blocks. I miscounted when I didn't have enough fabric for 4 wedges from three different fabrics, I guess. No problem--I tried to use two shades of the same basic color for the wedge color and could use a stronger purple toned one to balance things out. Not like I don't have any fabric to pull from.

First though---these things are not square. I am not entirely sure how that happened other than you are dealing with a good bit of bias on the wedge even though she tell you to stitch from the straight of grain side. That should have controlled the bias part. I was careful in my pressing on the seams as well so I didn't yank the heck out of the block there.

Did I miscut? Our teachers had told us to cut the background color 5 1/2 inches wide rather than the 5 1/4 because they had found on their pressing that the strip was consistently short and did not meet the end of the template. Makes sense but I just ended trimming it off so won't do that on the next set just to see what happens. The biggest thing was keeping the marked line of the template right over the sewn seam in the strip set, they cautioned. I butted a ruler to the left of the template before cutting and had sprayed the back of the both to control slippage. Doubt I mis-cut.

On just about every side of every block the wedge overhangs the piece next to it by about 1/8 or 3/8 at worst of an inch. Maybe you can see it on the block on the right in the picture?? I already squared up the worst offender before I took the picture. but trust me, it is there. Okay, the 1/8 inch I could probably finagle in and not worry about it. The wider variance, no way! I am using my Jem and it DOES sew a bit wider than a 1/4 inch. I know that but I have used the same machine and same machine foot consistently throughout the same project. I am not anal about it but I try to be accurate in all my sewing.

Okay, the whole pile needs to be squared up or to use an Eleanor Burns phrase "sliver cut" to what looks like a hair under 10 inches. If I don't do it, I will constantly be zigzagging seams to make sure they don't pull apart and the quilt turn into a rag in a heartbeat. I found where the center 3 inch finished square should be and then slapped a Masterpiece Static sticker over it to help line up, trim down right and top and then turn block and ruler. Not my idea---this was something that Fons and Porter instructed on an Album Cross block that did not use templates for the pointy end of the cross part. (They used an over long center strip and then you trimmed with the ruler once the block was completed). If it worked for that, then it will for this too.

I don't normally square up much of anything so this part is a little tedious. I still think it will make a fun quilt(s) for the kids. Just grumping about more work when I would rather be assembly the said top. I'm going to ask my classmates if they had to do the same thing next time I see them. How about any of you reading this? Your edges nice and straight or all wonky like mine??

ED. NOTE 3-14

Here is the completed stacks--all trimmed and ready to join into the two planned tops. I made 4 more purple blocks this afternoon and had the same problems with the same set of variables. I finally came to the conclusion that my wedge sections were just too short. When the teacher told us to cut the backgrounds 5 1/2 rather than the 5 1/4 it says in the pattern I did that BUT I trimmed around the narrow end to the shape of the template. I either didn't hear her say that part or did it anyway but so did everyone at my table.

After I finished up with the one needed for the quilt I cut prepped two more blocks. One I cut the background 5 3/8 and other 5 1/2. The shorter background was just the teeniest bit off but passable and produced a usable block---no real wonkiness. 5 1/2 was even better!

SO I would suggested making a trial block first and see if you need to do the same thing. Unless she has revised these templates on another printing I sure needed to make the adjustments. Off to mark my pattern accordingly!

Weigh in and let me know how yours worked out if you have made one?

this and that

One of my friend's (Marilyn) had invited several of the girls from my quilt group to her home yesterday for a Twisted Sisters class. Her husband was out of town at a hunt club with their son so it was the perfect time for a bunch of us to come over and sew. Several people from her church came as well but they had not done quilt piecing before. Marilyn with Ada helping her worked more one on one with them through the process---how to cut, make a strip set and then proceed with the block.

She ordered the books and templates for us and there was some question about them coming in time for the class as things were in a reprint/revision mode. Had I had mine in hand prior to class time I probably gotten more than this one lonely block done, LOL.

You are instructed to cut the strip sets in 4 1/2 inch chunks but that seems to be an extra step in the process when you can line up the marked line on the seam and cut on all four sides. One of the girls was using WOF and found that she could get two extra blades out of the strip by NOT chunking it up first. She was working in patriotic colors with set colors through out---same print in the background and a stripe for the blades so it was important for her not to waste too much fabric. I can understand why you might want to do it as instructed but probably would alter my plans next time.

I cut too many strips! Not having the booklet ahead of time I just whacked up 4 strips for the blades in about 11 different colors. That will net me just about enough blocks for two donation quilts so I'll make one more strip set. I am still cutting wedges---with about 24 to go--because I want this project bag ready to roll when I pick it back up again. I'll go like fire chaining these things through. That Jem will be smokin'! Now I could have sewed a bit more at class yesterday but it was my choice to keep cutting. It was fun to watch the others and see their progress. Visit and see the different color combinations they picked and such. I am using the same colored background through---that kit fabric gold on gold that I love and a bright orange for all the centers with brights for the blades. One of the sewers brought her, I would guess, about 12 yr. old son with her; he guaranteed that kids will like those bright polka dots! Just the stamp of approval I needed then.

You see, I knew that I was going to have to set this aside for a few days while I finish up my March "Be Attitudes" block and my Cheese and Crackers borders. That means working on all three of my machines as each project was started on a different one. I want all the tasks done on each machine before I swap it out. The Viking I use for machine applique and quilting. The Brother was the machine of choice for CNC so I want to maintain the same seam allowance for the pieced border, for sure! The Janome Jem is my "haul around" machine so TwSis needs to be finished on it.


What else is going on? Skyler was in maniac mode and about to jump atop the fridge so he could get up on the passway. Silly boy! I have a bit of video of part of that. He got up there too quickly for me to switch the camera over to record.

Well, it is snowing and I will need to get a better picture that I posted with this an hour or so ago. I actually took some video and some stills. You can see some movement but little accumulation as the ground is too warm for it to stick at that point. Now it collecting everywhere but the lane and the driveways. Birmingham had the possibility of 2-4 inches.

I am from the North but have lived in Alabama since the summer of 97. Snow is not such a big deal in Illinois of course but down South? I know the kids are dreaming of sledding, making snowmen or snowball fights and no school on Monday, LOL. Fortunately we did do not have to be out driving in it today. I normally go on grocery errands on Sunday but it can wait a few days. I worry more about ice than snow and of course, there are no plows or salt trucks. Just sand.

This was taken about 7:30 when the snow started. I'll update later...........

It's making me cold just looking at this stuff. Hot chocolate anyone?