Squaring up and Making a Path

Can you believe it?  A Podunk Picnic is off the quilting frame and ready to be squared up.  I think that was the fasted I've ever quilted a quilt of this size. 70 x 90 or 75 x 90...well it's somewhere close to those numbers.   Sitting for hours sewing the binding on is a well deserved break.

But before squaring up and attaching the binding I need to clear a path for the delivery of packages. The six inches of snowfall has made huge snowdrift on the front walkway and porch. I'm pretty sure the deliveries won't make it to my front porch if the snow isn't cleared.  This didn't take long because the snow is so powdery, it's like shoveling clouds.  This is one time I'm thankful for super cold weather.  Just a few degrees warmer and this would have been a real chore.  The warmer it is the heavier the snow.

The driveway isn't so bad, no drifts out here.  If you look closely at the middle of the drive you can see scrape marks on the top of the snow.  Those were made by me and the snow plow that is attached to the front of the 4-wheeler.  My plan was to clear the drive for Mr. Podunk.  It would take far to long to tell you about all the problems I encountered.  All that really matters is the 4-wheeler died when I went into the road to turn around. 

How was I going to get it out of the road if it doesn't restart?  I suppose I could find a way to pull it with my car?  No, that's not a good idea.  So many things could go wrong there.  More than likely the car would get stuck in the snow.  So I calmed myself and thought through the situation.  Why did it die?  GAS?  I can't see the gas gauge due to its frosted over on the inside of the gauge.  Then I remembered there's a gas reserve, I just need to flip the switch. I said a little mental prayer  "please lord don't let me be on the reserve tank already".   I find the switch that has 3 settings but I can't read them because I don't have my glasses.  All I can do is flip it and try to start.  The first flip of the switch and she didn't start.  The second flip and NO START!   NO NO NO!  This is not happening to me.  So I flip through the different settings again and finally she starts.  Hallelujah!  Let's get this thing out of the road before she dies again.  It was straight back to the garage to park that crazy machine.  I need some coffee and a little quilt therapy. 

Back in my happy place and feeling oh so much better.  In here I know how to make things work.  Let's get this girl squared up and ready for binding. 

To square up the corners of the quilt I'm using Marti Michelle's Diagonal Set Triangle ruler.  It's not meant for this but it works like a charm for the corners.

This ruler is for cutting set in triangles for an on point quilt.  When I purchased it I thought it would be easier and quicker to cut those triangles from strips instead of squares.  I like cutting them from squares.  It's faster and there's no scrap fabric.  

The long edges of the ruler are perfect for squaring up the corners. Sixteen inches from the corner out to the point.

I was pretty happy with the corners, not too much to trim away.  Just a tiny sliver at the very tip.  This is rare for my quilts.  Often my corners become skewed when I baste them down on the quilt frame.  Over the years I've tried so many different tips and tricks to keep this from happening but the one thing that has helped the most is starch.  Heavy starch.  Making the fabric as stiff as paper is best. I like to buy concentrated starch so I can mix it to my desired stiffness.

One down, 3 more go.

After cutting the corner I switch to a 6.5 x 24 ruler for the long straight sides.

It only took about 10 minutes to trim all the way around the quilt.  Now to separate the batting from the scrap fabrics and sort the fabrics.

My backing was made from two different fabrics. I cut them apart and sort them by color and size.

I ended up with quite a bit of scrap bin sizes.  My scrap bins are anything less than a fat quarter.  The larger piece is about 7-8" wide and over 90" long so I'm going to put it in with the FQ's.

And then the smallest pieces are less than one inch wide.  I save these for making rope rugs.  If you have never seen the rope rugs, you can read more about them here.

The smaller pieces of batting and fabric will go into a scrap bag for making my baby girl Khaleesi a new dog bed.  I'm getting pretty close to having enough stuffing I just need to come up with a plan.  Do I go simple or a little more fancy?  Any suggestions on a pet bed pattern?

Khaleesi will not come in when it's time for daddy to come home.  It was about 10 degrees and snowing.  She sat out there for 45 minutes.  

 

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~ Tips for piecing Flying Geese ~

Just one more day for sewing and then the holiday festivities will be in full swing.  Today I'm trying to get as much done as I can.  Is there anyone else thinking about taking a sewing project along with them while visiting the family?  Is that rude?  My Mother in law has a sewing, with a sewing machine so I could take these with me...I won't, I'm just kidding.

Pushing the sewing process will often times result in simple errors going unnoticed.  So I'm trying to use a quality control check list as I sew.  This idea comes from years of working in a factory.  The checklist is a mental list that is repeated the same with every piece.  Before layering the next square of fabric on top of the flying geese unit below I noticed my first quality check was bad.  It looks good from here and it's easy to miss.  So lets take a closer look.

 See those stitches showing at the end? Those will cause some big issues.   It's just an error in pressing.  All that needs to be done is to roll the white fabric back a little bit more.  Then give it a little press.

I didn't even get out the iron.  Just a quick finger press.

So it's back to the sewing machine to add the last square of fabric.  The first stitch line goes great. Peddle to the metal!  ZIP! ZIP! ZIP!.....KERCHUNK!

The first few units were giving me fits.  The seam on the bottom was being pushed forward by the presser foot.  The seam would either bunch up causing a big ole knot of thread and fabric or it would completely flip in the other direction.

  

Another simple fix.  Just flip it over.  I can still use the same method of lining up the corners with the presser foot and the lines on the bed of the machine.  Perfect!  Now it's peddle to the metal!

Hopefully this is the last of the sewing hiccups for today.  And these geese will be flying into the done box by supper time.

I've got my work cut out for me.  But just look at all this scrappy goodness!  Makes me smile!

#flyinggeesetips #onpodunkpond #onringolake #bonniehunter #quiltvillemystery

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~ A Gaggle of Geese ~

There's not been much time for sewing in the past few days but I've managed to get a few flying geese completed for my On Podunk Pond quilt.  I'm using the 4 at a time no waste flying geese method to make these as quickly as possible.  This method requires drawing a line on all the background fabrics and stitching 1/4" away from both sides of the line.  Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work.  So instead of drawing lines I'm using the same no mark method that I used when making my chevrons and HST's.  

To use this method you will need one of the following or something similar.  Or you could make your own like the one I made here.  You will also need to know what size squares to cut for the flying geese.  Click here for a printable chart for the No waste 4 at a time flying geese.  These geese will not need to be trimmed when finished.  In my opinion it's a lot easier to stitch a little slower for better accuracy than it is to trim down the units after they are finished.  But if you prefer trimming down click here for a chart with larger measurements.  

I've set up my machine with a quarter inch foot and adjusted my needle to make a scant 1/4" seam.  This is the best set up for my fabric and thread.  I suggest you make one set of 4 flying geese to make sure your geese are finishing at the correct size.   Then make adjustments to your sewing machine if needed.  You may notice I've used no pins.  If you are more comfortable with pins, use them.  

The first stitch line is complete and I've flipped my unit around and lined up the edge of the presser foot with the corner.  Stitching another line 1/4" from the center of the unit.

Your unit should look like this. Wasn't that easy?!

Now cut in between the two stitched lines.  Trim off the little dog ears.

Press as suggested in your pattern.  Add a square to each new heart shaped unit. 

Line up the edge of foot with the corner as we did earlier.  Be careful, remember after making that first stitch or two we need to keep our eyes on the line and the tip of the square.

Flip it around, line up the edge of the foot with the corner and you guessed it.....Stitch that second line.

Cut in between the stitched lines, press and trim the dog ears.

 That's it, super easy and quick!  Now it's time to chain piece for the quickest way to fly through these units before Christmas.  Happy Stitching!

#onpodunkpondquilt #onringolakequilt #quiltvillemysteryquilt #flyinggeesequilt #quiltingtricks #podunkpretties

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~ Making the cut ~

I find it hard to believe some quilters dislike cutting fabric.  It's one of my favorite things to do.  Petting fabric for hours on end, how can you not like that?   Sure it can be a chore but I never get tired of playing with fabric.  The darling little stacks of fabric below are for my On Podunk Pond quilt.  I'll be making a GAGGLE of flying geese units in red and yellow.  From start to finish it was about 4 hours worth of cutting.  Not all at once of course.  Not that I couldn't cut them all in one 4 hour session. I started cutting late at night and had to call it a night, finishing up the next morning.  Hopefully I can start piecing these sometime today.  

This morning I need to do a few boring chores, laundry and dusting.  Then it's off to the dentist for a root canal.  Oh what a fun day. Merry Christmas to me, huh?  Mr. Podunk has assured me there's nothing to worry about when it comes to getting a root canal.  The dentist told me the same thing but you know he'll say anything to get you in the chair and get paid.  If Mr. Podunk is right I should be able to go the dentist and continue with my day as planned.  The plan is to work on my office today.  We've had a few set backs but with any remodel there's always issues.  So I'm not upset about the setbacks.  The latest issue was flooring.  Here's the first flooring we started laying.  It was given to us by our neighbor.  Everything was going along beautifully....then at about the halfway point the boards start becoming difficult to snap together.  The veneer on the top would buckle and break off.  Now my hubby doesn't get mad very often. He's one of the most happy go lucky people I know.  After several buckling issues he picks up the board and tosses it across the room.  I froze, stood there wide eyed as he ranted for about 5 minutes.  After his rant we decided to rip out this flooring.  No big deal I really didn't care for the color of this stuff anyway, it's a little too dark.  But when it's free you can live with it.  It was expensive flooring so it was a shame to just throw it away.

We decided to use the same flooring that is in our laundry/mud room.  I like this color much better.  I know dark floors are really popular right now but I'm not a fan.  This flooring is also less expensive but rated as more durable.  We've had no issues with the previous installations.  These vinyl planks are a breeze to cut and assemble. So that's what I'll be doing today instead of sewing.  When the floor is done then I can sew.

It shouldn't take too long to finish the last few rows of planks.  The closet will be the hardest but I'm confident in my ability to measure twice and cut once.  Did you see my eggshell blue wall?  I LOVE IT!  The closet will become an office.  There will be a desk, shelves for patterns, paper and shipping supplies.  Having a hard time visualizing this?

It will look something like this but without so much decor.  I need a functional work space for pattern writing and shipping.

The rest of the room will be used for staging quilts for photos to be used as pattern covers.  That's why everything is white.  And I'm considering leaving the windows bare, no window treatments. 

The window trim and new fan light have been installed.

Once the floor is finished he can add the baseboard and trim while I paint the door.  We were planning to paint the old wood trim but he made the executive decision to buy new pre-painted trim.  Good for me because I'm the painter!  I've mention before our home is a Ranch style home from the 60's/70's.  Some of the original wiring still exist.  He wanted to remove the old fixtures.  To me it is  not necessary.  My printer will be in this little nook, so the old fixture won't be visible.

I'm pretty sure most of you will be able to identify this odd plug.  But I bet there's a few that can't.  My kids were clueless. Most people don't even use the newer updated plug.  Well if your still guessing I'll let you in on the secret.  It's a phone jack!  It's seen better days.  Someone has stained it with wood stain.  I got a little messy with the paint, but since it will be hidden I wasn't worried about how it looks.  A fun little blast from the past and believe it or not it still works.

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