Twister Blade

Hot off the press----

The newly remodeled bits of twister from my previous projects.  Some was part of a placemat and I was able to keep the dead center of it fairly intact but the rest of it, not so much.

I did have to put that "obnoxious green zigzag BACK in the mix--near the bottom left.  4 or 5 fabrics were not original to any of the three pieces I took apart.

Anyway, 1 out of 8 is done.  I think I am going to work on that snowman row now and get back to this once that fun project is done. 

Yep, got a plan so let's get back to the machine.

WIP Thursday

Yesterday's project----get the twister wreath to flimsy.  I had asked DJ to hold it up so I could get a picture but he and Skyler were entrenched in the recliner at the time.  He didn't want to crawl out of the recliner and disturb the cat.  I just temporarily pinned it to the wall hanging on the sewing room door and snapped it that way.

Marilyn had called me last night to see if she could possibly work out a swap with me for some "green" fabric.  She is doing  that Sentimental Journey 2010 BOM from Block Central with the JOY group.  Lovely quilt, huh?   But her version will use a lovely pink floral as the focus piece and I think greens, burgundies rather than reds and browns.    What would I want in exchange? she asked.  I knew she had a bolt of backing fabric at the meeting on Tuesday and said a yard of that would be fine provided I had something that would work.  She and her mom would be over across the lane getting their hair cut at our mutual hair dresser's shop.  I was not planning on going anywhere as I ran my errands yesterday.

In advance of her trip over here, I pulled all the possible bins of greens out---some of was stuck away in the Christmas tote so I separated out the prints that screamed  "Holiday".  I knew there was a little bit in the fall basket----pulled it.  Then there was a 20 qt snap lid container in the sewing room closet and that huge combo tote under the sewing table.  We pulled some possibles or some that would add some texture to the subsequent blocks and some with a lighter shade that might work.

When you are pressed for storage space, you have to stack things and maybe move two or three things to get at what you want.  Look what was on top of my pizza box of completed BOM blocks!  I made this originally for someone's fall row robin and then didn't use it after all for some reason that I do not recall at the moment.   I have to stick this in my row quilt somewhere----or make another, just a bit smaller  I know I don't have anymore of that purple fabric if I have to blend it in.

The pattern is from Amy Bradley's "Seasoned Quilter".  Looks like she still has it on the website thought in the last chance section. As you can see, the figure is holding small themed blocks that you velcro on.  Actually I almost started on this pattern as my yearly calendar type project but then decided to do the Button Ups instead.   I'm still not "done" and will be starting into year 3 with those, come January.  I know there are 4 more I want to do and two of them are from a Joined at the Hip book.  I just need to bump up the width and they will work perfectly on my Button Up base.  One of these days I am going to do that "Seasoned Quilter" as I think it is just too, too cute!

But this is what I am really doing today.  Binding.  On Tuesday morning I was up and pressing the binding back at about 0645.  I rarely am working on quilty stuff THAT early so DJ commented on it.  Then because it was "ironing" he wanted to know why it was that I would get right on binding detail but I get all mad when he asks me to press a collar or mend something.  Well, darlin' timing is everything!   I once kept two of his cotton shirts in here to iron for months so he should know better.  He knows how to use the iron.  My big ironing board is at the meeting placed because I don't need it with my current set up.  He can get out the short table top board.   I also told him that what he wanted me to do was drudgery and this was creativity.  Which do you honestly think I would pick, hands down, any day?   That might have been stretching it a bit too---as I think binding is just a  means to an end.  My true motivation is that guild meets Saturday and I wanted to show them a finished pro bono quilt.  Good enough for me!    I know that I have been far busier piecing lately and nothing but this close to done including that wreath that won't get quilted till after the meeting.

And sew it goes--------

meeting date

Meeting date today---fun time!   We had a special guest---one of the girl's cousin was here visiting from Indiana.   We also had a "not originally planned" potluck lunch that allowed us to keep sewing/cutting/playing without losing time.  Miscommunication may have set it up but it worked out just fine!


Teresa had her pink rag quilt done and just about ready to turn in but washing had made some pills on the back that she wanted to de-fuzz.  I am sorry that I did not get a picture taken of it to share.

I also failed to get a picture of the fall Log Cabin blocks that our guest had won in a block lottery from an online Facebook group.  They were gorgeous!  Sorry about that too but I was sorta busy today and dropped the ball.

This one is called Night and Day, I believe.  I think Lois said it came from Quilt in a Day and there was an easier way to piece this than you might originally think.  LOL, I'll take her word for it!  I did mention that something like this is supposed to be shrunk down to 6 inch for my Farmer's Wife Inspired Sampler but so far it had NOT made the cut.  Didn't Lois' version turn out pretty with that red just popping.  The black is our challenge fabric piece, actually.  This was the only one that was pinned, this meeting.

I have to tell you a story though---Bev told me that she had showed the Lick Skillet Guild that meets on the 2nd Monday evening in Oxford how the Belles approach pinning a quilt.  Hooray!  That shows that Bev has learned her lessons at the pinning table well if she was confident enough to share how to do it!  Learn and then teach.  Proud of her and it makes me smile.

Several of us had planned to work on the Lil Twister Christmas wreath today with me demo'ing and walking the girls through the process of cutting the sections for the pinwheels.  We are a casual group so no one is quite ready at the same time so as each one was ready we went through it on their piece.

Thanks to a link I had found on pinterest Lois was able to have her husband help her with cutting some plexiglass to make her own cutting tool.  She also had a couple extra to share so tested hers out prior to the meeting and had it sewn up to the borders.  Lois said she had used a fat quarter for the green and did not have any left to use for the rest of the piece so would border in the red.  She mentioned a bow she had seen from Eleanor Burns.  I don't know if you can see the picture but there is a fair amount of gold in the green print.  I asked her if she wanted some of the gold print that had with me today.  It looks like it will be perfect!   I'll have to find out the source of the bow in case the others want to do this as well.

Here is Beverly's version.   I had suggested pinning the sections to some batting, like a portable design wall as I would hate to get all this mixed up like a jigsaw puzzle.  Beverly has a problem with the polyester batting we use so I swapped her the warm and natural piece I had mine pinned to.  I wanted her to get the project moved forward since we were sharing rulers.

I had told the girls that I had been told that the 5 x 5 bases turned into and 18" square once the sections were cut and sewn into the pinwheel shapes.  Beverly misunderstood me and trimmed her blocks down by an inch on her first attempt.  My fault but I told her that I thought I could make it work by rigging up something else for her to use as a cutting tool.  A slightly smaller sectioning.  Really, I think it will be cute!  I did that project this evening (FYI:  a square slightly over 2 1/2 inch will be fine but 3 inches is too big) 

And here is Marilyn cutting hers.  She plans on making two of them but missed the directive to sew a 3 1/2 inch border around the square base.  Fortunately she had white fabric for one of them and her machine so we got her on track after a minor delay.   She was just about done when I took the picture.

Brenda was unable to come till after lunch but I handed her my ruler and got her to cutting.  She and I closed up the shop about 1430.  She showed me the pattern and the itty bitty twister that calls for 2 1/2 inch cut squares and I swear that ruler was probably 1 inch square-----yikes!  Apparently she had picked it up at a shop hop or quilt show and forgot about it.  Well, now she knows how to use it!

Brenda had a grandmother's flower garden section with those little pieces of plastic with the hole in them---that you pop out?  The name is escaping me at the moment.  I told her that I was considering just one rosette like she had for my  FWIS Sampler and asked how big it finished.  She gave it to me!  One block more block done---but I will need to stitch it down and get the little pop out sections out of there.  I started to take them out to give them back to her but she said you stitch each piece down and THEN remove it from the back, one at a time.   THX Brenda!  It is even a nice purple print that will be fine in the scheme of things.  You'll see it on the next design wall post, LOL. 

Rosa and Lois were working on an embroidery project.  Lois was helping Rosa get her machine set up, the stabilizer applied and such.  It was a t-shirt that was promised to Rosa's grandson.  Again, I was busy and didn't get a picture when they held it up.

Me?  Mostly helping out the others but I finally got the pile of Thangles for Hopscotch all trimmed down and the paper removed.  Not pressed but ready to!   I cut the last column on MY base here at home so it is ready to stitch up tomorrow. 

I'm beat so I think it is time to get into those jammies and go watch TV for a bit-------another day to play tomorrow.

more twisting

Here is the finished up Halloween row---first of about 7 or 8 we have planned.

You may be wondering what size the block 2 x 2 grid blocks finishes with 5 inch cut squares and 3 inch border sections----9 inch finished, 9.5 with seam allowances.  Nice size for a row quilt if you are involved in one with your quilt group.

Norma and I were debating about how wide we wanted to make our rows.  I said I was going to start with 36 inches and adjust with spacers and/or make more blocks if I change my mind, aiming for lap sized quilt.  Our inspiration piece has a silhouette of a tree in a night sky but I don't know if I will do that part----we'll see. 

I got the Christmas wreath base seamed together and started cutting so the girls can see what this might look like "in person".   leaving the last bits uncut for demo purposes.  I think they will be able to see what is going on with the cutting, leaving me a bit to cut and finish up.  Even if I DID cut out my whole piece, I could offer to starting cutting a row on theirs, LOL.

 I am debating about what I want to do for the rest of the evening.  I am tempted to just pull out out another pro bono quilt kit and just keep piecing.   There are two kind of girlie looking quilts in reach of my desk, one that revised Chantal quilt from Debby Kratovil.

The other kit uses some leftovers from one of the Belles in an aqua, pink, soft green and yellow Oriental palette that has been cut out far longer.  I am sort of re-thinking my original plan of huge 4 patches on point in sort of a zigzag set.  They could easily become Puss in the Corner blocks instead----and still go on point since I have the setting triangles already cut out.   Or Disappearing 4 patch would work too.   You will have to scroll allllll the way down to see my previous QOV version.   With such ambivalence it might be better to just grab the other one, LOL and mull this over a bit more.

There is also a call out for unisex teen sized quilts for a friend of a friend's project and needed by Christmas.   I might be able to fill if I pull out a kit from the sewing room closet .  So maybe that long cut out Hopscotch pattern from my favorite designer Terry Atkinson may finally see the light of day?? Think I'll pull that puppy out and see "what's up" with it.   Never a lack for something to do, that's for sure!  Almost time to head out to the kitchen and fix supper too.   Creativity can wait, LOL.