A Little of This and That

I purchased Bonnie Hunter's Appalachian Autumn and have been having fun with it. The backgrounds of mine are not scrappy like hers.

I'm still working away on this. Only four half star blocks to go on this large block- I'm getting faster!

And yes, the cheddar bowties are still being made.

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know this story. Saturday we settled in for a long day of watching college football. During the first half of the first game (Auburn!) I was hand stitching with Mickey in my lap - very normal for us. At halftime I realized he was doing something funny with his mouth. I thought he was choking on something so I reached my hand in his mouth toward his throat to see if I could clear the passage. Well, what did I find? A needle stuck into his tongue - way back near his throat. I knew it was a needle. And I couldn't get it out.

Off we rushed to the AU Emergency Vet Clinic. We thought this would not take long. Boy were we wrong. For one thing, with Covid we were not allowed to speak with the vet until the entire ordeal was over. Vet students came to the car, took our info, and carried him in. After 5 hours of sitting in the parking lot (they asked us not to leave), watching lots of critical patients being rushed in through the door, we finally received word that they had x-rayed Mickey and didn't see anything. So we took him home. As soon as we came in the door, I reached my hand in his mouth and yes, the needle was still there.

Back we went to the vet clinic. More critical dogs came in and had to go before us. 5 more hours in the car later...we got a call from the vet. She had put him under and was so surprised to find a needle! The problem was that Mickey didn't show symptoms the vet expected - excess salivation and agitation. She said she learned a lesson as did her student. It was 11 pm before we got Mickey home.

Mickey woke up well from his anesthesia (a big worry) and is absolutely fine now! And I'm keeping better track of my needles! Lessons learned all around.

Stay safe.

Curved Hexie Stitch Along - Part 10

 

These photos are a bit off kilter, but you'll get the idea. This week is EASY, as promised! First we need to use P4 - make TWO of these.

Now use S2 - make FOUR of these.

These units should be stitched to the top of the main quilt top, as shown above. You'll have this done in record time!

It's getting so big! And I have so many other things on my design wall competing with the space. I'm loving it though!

Stay safe! And don't let your pets near your needles...

What I've Been Working On....

Cheddar Bowties! I've kept at it, making four every morning and stitching them together. Today I had enough to make the first big unit made of 64 bowties. Progress!

I'm also working on the next star block for Stars Upon Stars. I'm attempting a whole block this time, as opposed to the half block I have already finished.

And somehow...I managed to start ANOTHER quilt. Call me crazy, but Bonnie Hunter's new Fall pattern was calling my name. I will say this - I'm not string piecing this one on paper. NO PAPER! But I'm starching and pressing very well at each step. So far, so good. I'll make all the string pieces before I start making half square triangles and making blocks. 

And of course, the curved hexie project continues. BIG THANKS to Cynthia W for alerting me to fact I made a mistake in the Part 9 instructions - I have corrected it!

The one project I have neglected lately is my Manx log cabin quilt. It will be ready and waiting when I'm ready to pick it up again.

I have had some ask me how I get so much done while keeping a sweet baby. Well, I haven't found it challenging. The key is planning and precutting. If Sadie arrives at 8:30 am, I go to my sewing machine at 8 am and make my bowties for the day. If I do nothing else, I feel good about my accomplishment. During the day, I have hand sewing at the ready - hexies, hand piecing for Stars Upon Stars, hand quilting. Often she plays in her little jumping toy for a bit, or hangs out in the swing with me sitting beside her. Or she naps. Those are times I pull out the hand sewing (which is by my comfy chair in the living room).  I also sew on my machine after Sadie leaves in the afternoon and on weekends. Sometimes the more you have on your plate, the more you get done. Organization is the key!

Stay safe!

Curved Hexie Stitch Along - Part 9

 

This week we're using P4, marking it on two opposite points. Do you see the little triangles on the outer sides? Don't cut them out!

Cut them as shown above.  Leave the little triangles attached to one side - see what I mean? Hope so!

This photo is turned the wrong way, but you get the idea. Make FOUR of these.

Next up, use S2 to mark on three sides as shown above. DON'T cut those tiny slivers out!

Cut and number as shown above.  I know...these shapes are a bit odd, but if you have the numbers lined up as shown it should all fit together like a puzzle.

Make ONE of these.

Put them together like this, as in the photo above. 

You guessed it - sew it to the bottom of the main quilt top as shown above. 

This is getting big now! It measures more than 38 inches top to bottom. I promise the next two steps will be much more simple, but look how good it looks so far!

Stay safe!

Sally Came to Visit

 

Hurricane Sally came through here. By the time she got here she was a tropical depression - not a hurricane any longer. We have a rain gauge - she left us with more than 6 inches of rain yesterday. At that point our gauge overflowed, so we don't know exactly how much more she left overnight. 

She took down this tree behind our fence and smashed it into our fence. This is so minor compared to what many closer to the coast have to deal with now. The tree is owned by the golf course and they came by early this morning to check it out. They'll be back later today to get the debris from our yard.

I've been working behind the scenes on this sweet little dress. I'll share more of this later. This has been a challenge - I'm better at quilts!

Did you notice???? The Curved Hexie Stitch Along is back at the top of the blog!!!!!

I spent much of Tuesday trying to fix this. I also watched some tutorials for the New Blogger. That's when I realized that my screen didn't look like theirs. I was missing the tool bar in New Blogger. No wonder I was having trouble using it! When I talked with one of my daughters later in the day, she immediately said I needed to try a different browser. Try Google Chrome, she said. 

Well, what do you know? That did the trick! I was able to see the missing tool bar! I was able to put the tab back in place! And I'm now using the New Blogger to post this! All is well here from computer land!

Stay safe!

Sewing at the Lake...

We had a relaxing weekend at the lake. Though I keep a sewing machine and supplies there, I only did hand stitching while there. I have finally finished a half block for my Stars Upon Stars quilt. It only took me a month - haha! It all fit together nicely and I think I'm finally getting the hang of this tiny work. Those diamonds finish at 1/2" x 1/2". SO TINY!

I need 15 whole blocks, 11 half blocks, and 4 quarter blocks. A long way to go, but I'm ready to attempt a whole block next. Fingers crossed.

These little bow tie blocks seem huge in comparison, though each bow tie will finish at only 3"! Though I didn't make any of these Saturday or Sunday at the lake, I'm back at them now. The pattern calls for them to be sewn in groups of 4. So now when I make my daily four blocks, I go ahead and stitch them together.

I'm half way done with a big unit. Making progress!

Today I plan to work some on my computer. A kind reader sent me some helpful tips for the new blogger format. I'm still having issues though. I'm beginning to think my computer may be the issue. So today I will clean up my files, delete a lot of stuff I don't need, backup my hard drive, and then (while holding my breath and crossing all fingers and toes!) update the software. I hope my computer survives all this and I don't lose something important. 

Are you watching Home Organization by The Home Edit on Netflix???? This is my new obsession. Though we have been settled into our new home for quite some time, our master closet hasn't been organized yet. I have so many ideas now! I ordered lots of cool hooks from Amazon this morning - can't wait to make this closet better and more beautiful!

Stay safe!

Curved Hexie Stitch Along - Part 8

Ready for another hexie week? I am! Here's the goal for this week. You only have to make 5 hexies. And only 1 is complicated.

Let's get the easy ones done first. These are a simple S2 - easy peasy. I did have some fun fussy cutting these. Make 4 of these.

Now let's make the more complicated hexie. Mark the paper using S2 on opposite sides (left and right sides in photo above). Next mark P2 on opposite points (top and bottom in photo above).

I find it very helpful to number the sections before cutting this paper into pieces. That way I don't get confused when putting it back together.

When basting these pieces, make sure the numbers are all on the back side - see them peaking through above? Numbering makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE in keeping the pieces straight!

And look at this interesting hexie you will have! I found a cute eye in my Tula Pink fabrics to put in the center of mine.

Okay. Now sew the hexies as shown above. NOTE - the bottom hexie in this photo is turned with the fussy cut image OUT, unlike the other three similar hexies.

Now sew this unit to the top of the main unit just like this. You've got this!

We went to the lake over the weekend, so here's some photos from there:

I love the way this is growing!

Stay safe!

And since I still haven't figured out how the get the older instructions back yet (I will, just give me time...), here are the links to them.

General Instructions: https://thehexieblog.blogspot.com/2020/07/curved-hexie-stitch-along_16.html

Part 1: https://thehexieblog.blogspot.com/2020/07/curved-hexie-stitch-along-part-1.html 

Questions Answered: https://thehexieblog.blogspot.com/2020/07/curved-hexie-stitch-along-your.html

Part 2: https://thehexieblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/curved-hexie-stitch-along-part-2.html

Part 3: https://thehexieblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/curved-hexie-stitch-along-part-3.html

Part 4: https://thehexieblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/curved-hexie-stitch-along-part-4.html

Part 5: https://thehexieblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/curved-hexie-stitch-along-part-5.html

Part 6: https://thehexieblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/curved-hexie-stitch-along-part-6.html

Part 7: https://thehexieblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/curved-hexie-stitch-along-part-7.html

Slowly, But Surely

I knew I wanted to set a goal of 'bowties per day' for my cheddar bow tie quilt. I've been playing around with it and decided 4 blocks per day is an easy goal. Since I have LOTS of pieces cut out already (done while my sewing machine was in the shop), it only takes 10 minutes for me to piece 4 blocks. I can spare 10 minutes per day! That will yield about 120 blocks per month. This will get done over the course of time. Even when I have sweet Sadie for the day I can easily fit in 10 minutes of sewing.

I have a big variety of cheddars and my scraps are playing nicely, even the rather ugly ones. I think I'll love this one. Easy peasy, fun sewing. At some point I'll have to cut up more scraps, but for now I have plenty precut. 

I'm still working on my Stars Upon Stars quilt... VERY SLOWLY.

That first star - the one for which I had to draft the corners - I will still finish that block BUT it will not go in the quilt. It won't fit with the other blocks if they are made the CORRECT size. I started another block - this time a half block. I'll need some of these for the quilt, so I figured out smaller this time. So far, so good. I'll share soon.

For some reason the new Blogger has removed my tab at the top where I have all the steps for our Curved Hexagon Stitch Along. I can still see it, but no one else can. Just know that I'm working on it behind the scenes. I hope to figure it out in the next couple of days.

Stay safe!

Curved Hexie Stitch Along - Part 7

I hate to tell you this...but

Repeat Part 6. Make 6 more of these and sew them to the opposite site as shown above.

I PROMISE next week will have something different!

Have fun with this and stay safe!

Conquering Stars and Hexie Show and Tell

I was determined to conquer this quilt! The core problem is that my seam allowance wasn’t perfect in the big star. I measured each seam as I went so I thought I was okay. But obviously I was probably about a thread off in each seam. Not much…but just enough over the course of all those seams to get me off kilter. I was not going to throw this out! But there’s was no way to correct it at this point in time. And so I decided to draft the small star pattern to fit what I had. This took me several tries! I would draft a pattern, sew a sample, and it wouldn’t fit. Over and over I did this. I would like to say my knowledge of engineering and calculus helped me solve this problem. But, no, it was simply trial and error. But I finally did it! Yay! I’m on my way now! More small stars and small half stars to make just for this one block, but I’m now making progress. I’m hand piecing these small stars. Yes, this quilt will take a long time! But I’ve got time!

 Here is some show and tell from this week’s Curved Hexie Stitch Along. I think in my video I called it, “Curved Stitchy Hexalong.” Haha. Someone wrote me: “Well, didn’t you have a little bit of a sadistic streak in you with those teeny, tiny points this week. But, the video sure helped.” You are learning something new! Isn’t that a good feeling???

Stay safe!

Struggling with Stars

I successfully made the intricately pieced star for the Edyta Sitar quilt. Now I'm trying to make the little stars that surround it. The top one I pieced with my machine. BIG NO! It doesn't lay flat! And it's too small. So hand pieced the middle one with 3/16" seams. Again - not right. This one measured too big. So I hand pieced the bottom one using 1/4" seams. Too little.

At this point, I finally decided to measure the little stars against the big star.  The problem is that the little stars are the correct size, BUT the big star is the wrong size, I think. So what do I do now???? UGH!!! The pattern is correct, I'm sure...it's my piecing that's the problem. I'm going to put this aside for a day or two and then come back and figure it out.

I've made several little cheddar bowtie blocks. I'll try to make a few per day. I'll need hundreds of them.

The postal service continues to annoy me. I want to support USPS - they need all the support they can get. However, they need to be more consistent. I got a ruler back in the mail yesterday with a sticker saying the contents were too rigid. WHAT? That was a first for me. I sent it out again today and hope it will go through this time. Another ruler was apparently lost somewhere along the line - I sent another one out to replace it. Please let me know if you think you should have received your ruler by now and it hasn't arrived - 

Stay safe!