Old Town Part 4 ~ Finished!

 Hello Quilting Friends!  Come on in and join me in a little celebratory finishing dance!  Had it not been for all your well wishes and prayers for speedy wrist healing, I don't think I would have been able to accomplish these half square triangles this week. It means the world to me to have such a great community, thank you!

They still need the dog ears trimmed off but as far as I'm concerned, they are done.  The trimming should only take about 30 minutes, give or take.

Working a little at a time and taking rest breaks as often as needed worked out perfectly.  The only real issue I ran into yesterday was cutting apart the chain piecing.  The Blade Saver Thread Cutter is one of my favorite gadgets.  However, it was not wrist friendly.  It only took about three cuts for the pain to intensify in my wrist.  I gave my wrist a rest for about 30 minutes, then finished cutting the threads with scissors.

Today's plan after trimming the dog ears.

1. Tidy up the sewing room.

2. Stitch the border applique on the Bumpkin Baskets quilt.

Challenge Accepted Quilitng

 🎵She's making a list checking twice and checking it twice, she's gonna get done no matter the price.  Lea Annes gonna get it done.  🎵She planned the whole day wisely, she knows what is at stake, she's gonna have a fun time, so let's grab that layer cake.🎵

🎵Oh, the fabrics are cut, their waiting on me, to get off the couch and turn off TV.  Lea Anne's gonna get it done.🎵

Yesterday was unproductive, not due to the TV, it was the only word I could think of to rhyme with "me".  It was one of those days of getting things done everywhere but in the sewing room.  Today is a fresh start.  I plan dedicate all my quilting time to finishing Part 4 of the Old Town Bonnie Hunter Mystery. 

 Bonnie's mystery clues typically appear on Fridays, but she hinted in her latest clue how she occasionally releases a surprise clue whenever the mood strikes her.  Oh, that sneaky gal.  Is she going to toss in another clue or is she just toying with my mind!...HAHA!  Whatever her intentions, she's lit a fire under my hiney, and I like it.  Challenge accepted!

#oldtownquilt

Little by Little ~ Old Town Mystery Part 4

 Hi Quilty Friends!  Today's quilting update is small, but there's still progress. The fabric for part four of the Old Town Mystery quilt is finally ready for cutting. My scrap bins lacked pieces large enough for the necessary matching sets, so I resorted to cutting some strips from my yardage stash. Naturally, most of these strips came from my cherished Lakehouse Drygoods collection, which always sets my heart aflutter.

I managed to cut four matching sets of half square triangles with Bonnie's Essential Triangle ruler, which was the most my injured wrist and hand could handle. A little progress is better than none. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day! Quilting is not only therapeutic for the mind but can also be physical therapy for hand and wrist injuries.

The cutting of strips and triangles was a slow process. I alternated between the cutting table and the sewing machine, where I managed to stitch down five sets of applique arcs and flowers.

My day involved more than just sewing. I also had to pressure can dog food and take breaks to rest my hand and wrist.

I also freeze and dehydrate dog food. It's worth the time and expense to keep her as healthy and happy as possible with her health issues.  It is also more affordable and healthier than high-quality commercial, or veterinarian prescribed dog food.

Today will likely be similar to yesterday, moving from one project to another. I plan to begin the day by sewing up the half-square triangles and then I'll go wherever the wind carries me.

Switching Projects ~ Baskets Of Fun

 Hi-diddly-O! Quilting Friends!  My recent injuries from tripping over the dog will not keep from sewing.  I may not be able to cut fabric but I'm pretty sure I can still manage a few stitches on the sewing machine.  So, I pulled my Bumpkin Baskets quilt out of the WIP's cart. 

All that's left to do on the Bumpkin Baskets quilt is to stitch the border applique into place using the invisible machine applique method.  The appliqued pieces were glue basted in place months ago using Elmers washable school glue in a Roxanne's basting glue bottle.  The Elmers is cheaper and works just as well as Roxanne's glue. It was also easier to find locally when I ran out of Roxanne's Basting Glue.

Invisible machine applique can be stitched with any thread that matches your fabric or with invisible thread.  I prefer Superior Threads Mono-poly.  It's a clear monofilament thread that can hide in almost all fabric.  They also sell a brown Mono-Poly to use with darker fabrics.  Typically, a walking foot is my go-to for machine applique, but it's a no-go today. Attaching it requires a screwdriver twist, and my sprained wrist just gave me a big thumbs down!

The reading glasses are helpful when working with invisible thread.  Especially if your machine is like mine and refuses to thread the needle with the automatic threader.  Painting the end of the thread with a black sharpie marker helps when manually threading the needle.  I sometimes use the camera on my phone to find the thread, I can zoom in on the thread.  It shows up pretty good in the picture below, but I couldn't see it when taking the picture, it must be the angle of the light.

Making the smallest stitch possible is also what helps make the stich invisible.  I prefer a very narrow blanket stitch.  In the picture below, the left image shows the needle in the background fabric.  On the right the needle is in the applique. TINY stitch!   

This quilt is my own design, no pattern is available, but you can get an idea of how I made baskets and border at the following links.

The first link shows my inspiration for the basket block.

Click here

The second link is the basket block redesigned and used in a small quilt.

Click here

Well, I've rambled on long enough.  It's time to get this quilt top finished and ready for the quilt frame.  Oh, I won't be quilted anytime soon.  That will need to wait until sometime next year.

  

Why Save Tiny Fabric Scraps?

 Hi Friends!  Over the years many a quilter has questioned my obsession with saving the tiniest of scrap fabrics like the ones you see here.  These are the most recent scraps produced during the cutting of Part 3 of the 2024 Quiltville Old Town Mystery Quilt.

The answer is simple...If I think I can put a stitch in it, I keep it. The two metal tins below are sitting on the table next to my sewing machine.  This is where random triangles produced during cutting are stored until they can be stitched together.

This week while I was stitching together the most current scraps, I decided to check the metal tins for more.  I found a few rectangles from my Twinkler quilt. The flippy corners were stitch and cut before noticing I had stitched them to the wrong side of the rectangles.  These will be trimmed into HST's and the scraps put in the scrap bin for fabric less than a one inch.  As you can see in the red circles below, it doesn't need to be a perfect triangle to make a HST.  The odd shapes will square up just as easily as a perfect triangle.

Years of saving every last piece of fabric has produced over 4,000 HST's of various sizes.  They are trimmed to the largest size possible.  As small as 1" and as large as 5".

This week's trimming didn't go well due to my recent fall. My wrist is better, but it gave out after only trimming 6 HST's.  (3) 1.25" and (3) 1" HST's.

The remaining blocks to be trimmed were placed in a Ziplock baggie and hung in clear view so they are not forgotten.  Trimming as you go is so important.  Many of you may remember my ordeal with trimming the 4,000 a little at a time.  I don't ever want to do that again!

Here's why I keep them.  They make cute mini quilts.  The quilt below has (54) 2" blocks with 1/2" sashings.

I made it back in 2012 with scraps leftover from this quilt called Nostalgic Christmas by Lynn Wilder.  By the way, the little panel in the center of the blocks were printed from vintage images I found on Pinterest.

Here's another mini quilt made in 2014.  The tiny little HST's are 3/4" in the quilt.

The HST's were flippy corners from my Promenading Tulips quilt.

Of course, a larger quilt could be made from my stash of HST's.  Maybe in the new year after I finish a few other works in progress I'll do that very thing...maybe.

New Quilt Planning ~ Winter Solstice

 Hi Quilty Friends!  The Winter Solstice quilt has been in the works for months.  The plan was to start cutting this week.  However, due to a recent wrist injury the start may be delayed by a few days or more.

 The fabric was purchased a few weeks ago at Hobby Lobby during one of the 40% off sales.  It's a 108 wide quilt backing so I'll need to cut this into more manageable sizes for strip cutting.

Since this is a cheap fabric and the color is so dark I'm prewashing it to be on the safe side.  To help reduce fraying in the washer the corner was snipped off each corner.  This works well on some fabrics better than others.

As expected with cheaper fabric, there was still quite a bit of raveling.  However, to my surprise, the color bleeding was not as severe as expected. 

Struggling with the tangled fabric aggravated my sprained wrist.  This was a good time to sit down and an recheck my quilt math. I did make one change to my quilt pattern. The in-set triangles (stars below) were originally going to be cut from squares that are subcut on the diagonal to make triangles.

 The Marti Michell ruler makes set-in triangle from strips of fabric.  For some reason I forget I have this ruler.   It's a handy tool to have in your stash.  It makes the set-in triangles much easier to cut.

Old Town Mystery Quilt~ Clue 3 Finished

 Hello Quilty Friends!  Having a sprained wrist made piecing this small batch of quarter square triangles a bit of a challenge. It took about 8 hours of sewing for a bit and resting for a longer bit. 

Typically, I prefer to oversize quarter square triangles (QSTs) and trim them to perfection. However, for these, I pieced them together carefully and slowly, ensuring that only the dog ears required trimming. I was able to trim them using my right hand and a pair of scissors. I must admit, I was quite pleased with the precision of my sewing when it was necessary. 

Cutting for those little quilt blocks with Bonnie's Essential Triangle Ruler created tiny confetti triangles. My wrist was practically begging me to toss them into the trash or the mini scrap bin!

A couple of years back, I made a pact with myself: no worthy triangle shall ever meet its fate in the scrap bin. Instead, they're destined to be transformed into HSTs, ready for their moment to shine in a future project.  So, I made a few test pieces.

The real test was determining whether I could trim them down into cute little HST's. Unfortunately, the outcome is that I cannot. While it's often said that trying never hurts, in this case, it actually did. Today's plan: transforming those triangles into delightfully wonky HSTs. I'm not thrilled about postponing the trimming until my wrist is on board with the plan, but the wrist is calling the shots for the time being.

The Old Town Quiltville Mystery Quilt is a free quilt-along until February. If you're interested in joining the fun or saving it for later, you can access the introduction and the first three clues here. Remember to check back every Friday for new clues leading up to the big reveal.

Pretty In Purple?

Well, isn't this pretty?  PURPLE!  Y'all know how much I dislike purple...HAHA!  I definitely don't look good in purple.

It may seem bad, but I bet I'll be fit as a fiddle in no time. Bet you're itching to know the scoop – well, I took a tumble over my furry sidekick during our daily stroll. Good news is, my knees played the hero, cushioning the fall for my hands and wrists. Bad news? My wrist wasn't quite the superhero needed to save my face from kissing the road. 

Fortunately, I had already cut all the pieces for this week's clue of the Old Town Mystery quilt before I took a tumble.  Last night, I managed to sew a few pieces. I'll continue working on them gradually, bit by bit.  

Thankfully, this week's clue was small. I should be able to complete it before the next clue on Friday. Hopefully, by then, my wrist will have healed enough for cutting fabric.

The Last 100 Bow-Tie Blocks ~ Gray

Hello Quilty Friends! Nine hundred blocks may seem like a lot, but when they're 3.5 inches with only six pieces per block, it's quite standard for a quilt measuring 90 inches square. Some quilters meticulously count the number of pieces in their quilts. This is my first time doing so. There will be 5,400 pieces in this quilt, provided I don't decide to add a border or two.

The blocks were once again strewn across the cutting table. I found myself not only admiring the various prints but also searching for repeated fabrics.

Some look very similar because they are from one line of fabric. Right off the bat I spied a repeat and put them together at the bottom of this picture.

And then maybe another repeated fabric on the far right in the image below.  See the tiny floral print?  I think I used it in the purple or orange blocks.

I pulled the repeat block and the suspected repeat block and added them to a small stack of extra blocks I had set aside.  I clipped them all together and labeled them as extras.  

All 900+ blocks fit in the storage bin!  Can you believe it?  A 90" x 90" quilt top fits in this storage bin?!  900 blocks!  They will stay here for the next few weeks as I work on the Quiltville 2024 Old Town Mystery quilt and begin a new two-color quilt.

The inspiration for my Bow-Tie quilt is from Bonnie Hunters Cheddar Bow-ties Leader and Ender Challenge tutorial.  Click here to go to the tutorial and free PDF printable.