It's Not My UFO

 If you had to name these blocks, would you call them Dresden blocks or wheel blocks? Whatever they are, they’re adorable. I can’t take credit for making them, they were sent to me years ago by Bev of Blossom and Beverly, who some may also remember as 44th Street Fabrics.  She no longer writes on her blog so reason to provide a link.  She switched over to Instagram, and we haven't chatted in years.  I'm not a big fan of the faster paced social media.  I only had it for business purposes.  I guess that makes me an old out of touch fuddy duddy.  

Oh well I like the slower pace here in blogland.  It reminds of a line from the book/movie Shawshank Redemption.

"The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry"

Anyway... Way back in the day Bev had written a blog post about these quilt blocks saying she made them a long time ago and didn't know what to do with them and wanted suggestions.  

In true smarty pants fashion, I suggested she send to me because I loved them!

As you can see, she did just that.  We had been sending packages to each other for years, so she sent them. It was a total surprise when they ended up on my doorstep.  And here I set in the same predicament for years trying to come up with a plan for using them.

Every time I've to work on them it always ended with them being put back in storage.

Well not this time.  I'm determined to finish this project.  So up on the design wall they go.  This should be a quick and easy finish. Weather I like it or not it will be finished, it's not going back into storage.

Bev and I discussed these a few times over the years.  We both thought that adding a black and white polka dot might be the best option.  I've had a black with white polka dots on hand for a few years and have been keeping my eye out for a white with black dots for quite some time.  Finally last week I found it at Love It Sew our local quilt shop.  So up on the design wall they went for inspiration.  To be honest, I was not inspired.  

Plan B was to take the blocks into EQ8 and start playing with options.  And I quickly realized that this might take longer than I thought.  EWW...I don't like the dots.

I played around with a lot of ideas, and each one produced the same reaction...EWW.

This seemed a little better but still... EWW.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.  Maybe it's the black that is so yukky to me. After about 3 or 4 fabric auditions in EQ, I found a fabric I think will work.  Gingham of course.  I love ginghams!  I love dots too but not the black and white ones.

What do you think? The yukky dots, green or something totally different for this quilt.  Design options ideas are welcome too!

For now, they will stay on the design wall while I finish up the Iris quilt that has been neglected for days.  I often come up with my best ideas while working quietly on something else.

See you soon!

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Happy Easter

Happy Easter to my lovely family and friends, may your day be filled with laughter and joy. 

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Meeting Corey Yoder

 Once again, time seems to be spinning out of control, and I’ve lost track of the days. Maybe it’s because I turned 57 this week. Whatever the reason, here’s my sewing update a day late. The Iris Quilt? No progress to report. But honestly, who cares... I met Corey Yoder!

She did a trunk show at Love It Sew one of our local quilt shops.  Normally I would never pay to meet fabric designer.  But when I saw that she was going to be here the day after my birthday I said what the heck.  I almost always buy fabric for my birthday and had planned to buy from both of the local shops why not just go on the day that Corey is in town.  It was only $20 or in quilter cash one yard of wide quilt backing.  

I've been following Corey since around 2011 or 12.  Back then she was a Moda Bakeshop designer, that's how I found her.  She had posted a quilt pattern in the Moda Bakeshop website and there was a link to her blog at the end of the pattern post.  Here's a link to the Candy Scraps Quilt I remembered from way back then.  Why was it so memorable?  Linen!  That's right she used an unbleached linen in the quilt and I was in awe.  So I went straight to Joann's and bought some linen that looked like what she had but wasn't designer fabric.  I didn't use it for another year or two, you know how it is...SQUIRRELL!  

Anyway, back to Corey, she was in town for a trunk show featuring her new fabric line, Fruit Salad. I had already come across it online since I often browse manufacturer websites for upcoming collections.

Of course, she brought all the sample quilts for this line and a lot more from other lines.  

I took pictures of some of the quilts just for show and tell here on the blog.  But I didn't bother to write down the names of any of them.  So, if you like any of them here's a link to her pattern shop.  It's rare that I buy a pattern, but when I do I prefer to buy directly from the designer, if possible, they make more profit when you purchase from them.

She shared a good 20 to 30 really cute quilts.  This one below was my favorite.  Again, I have no clue what it's called.  It reminds me of the traditional quilt pattern called Grandmothers Flower Garden.  Y'all know I'm s sucker for posy quilts.  Did I buy the pattern?  No.  I forgot about this one when it came time to shop.

What did I get?  Let's start with the goodie bag put together by the quilt shop.  In the bag was 2 FQ's, scissors, a wristlet and 3 pieces of candy.  The candy is not pictured because...well...it was yummy chocolates. HAHA!   We also got to choose one Corey pattern free of charge.  The goodie bag more than paid for what we paid for the trunk show.  Let me just say I love this quilt shop, they carry all the pretty stuff I love.  Thank goodness it's about a 40 to 50 minute drive.  If it were closer, I'd be in big trouble with hubby all the time.

Of course, I bought a few things while at the shop.  Some half yards of the blue prints in the Fruit salad line and the black dot on white is also a Corey Yoder fabric but not from the current line. We'll talk more about that black dot fabric next week.  Some must have low volume prints came home with me because one can never have too many of those.  And last but not least Corey brought new patterns for her next line of fabric, Joysome, it will be in stores this fall. I chose a pattern that looked like it would be good for scrap busting small squares.

Corey had a YouTube Channel.  She posts a new video almost every Saturday.  Her channel isn't just for plugging her new lines of fabric and patterns, she also does Q&A, free block of the months and the occasional tutorial.  I watch it every week without fail.  Below is her video for the Fruit Salad line. Click on the image below to watch or click this link to watch it on YT and help her YT channel grow. 

 See you soon!  Monday is the plan, but you never know!

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The Iris Quilt

 Quilting the Iris quilt is moving at the speed of a snail, but at least it’s moving. Day one of quilting was nearly a total flop thanks to skipped stitches and a stitch regulator that decided to test my patience. By the time I solved both problems the sun was setting, so I stitched for about an hour before calling it quits for the day.  

The next day was a better day. I had a great time quilting the wave in the sashings with my new wave ruler. It would be wonderful if all longarm rulers had painted lines like this one.

The one inch piano key border gave me a bit of trouble for that very reason. Light fabric, light thread, and faint ruler lines don’t mix well with aging eyes and new bifocals.

I have several different rulers for straight lines and stitch in the ditch.  And every single one of them has etched/scratched hard to see lines. I know not everyone has this problem.  It's just a Granny Lea Anne problem.  All I can do is fix the problem since my new very expensive granny bifocals don't seem to be helping me in the slightest.

Can you see the etched lines on light fabrics?  Do you see the one darker line?

I fixed the problem with a fine tip Sharpie, which fits perfectly into the etched/scored line. I only marked the one inch line since it’s the only one I’m using for this quilt. 

While we're talking about hard to see lines...the preprinted quilting lines are easier to see now that the quilt has been sandwiched on the frame.  Am I concerned about these lines?  Nope. Not one bit.  This is pretty typical of older preprinted embroidery.  Sometimes the lines wash out sometimes they don't.  I know the recipient will love her with or without blemishes.

The good thing is they aren’t noticeable unless you're up close.  And I know the recipient is going to love it even with the blemishes.

This week there's a list as long as my arm of things to be done other than quilting on the frame.  So, the plan is to do what I can and quilt when I can.  See you on Friday!

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