Insanity scraps

Inch by inch I'm working my way through the insanely small 1 inch scrap pieces.  The surprising thing is that they go together really quick because of the size.  Matching up those seams when piecing the rows may be a tad bit more difficult.  Since the pieces are so tiny I've set my seam allowance at a super scant 1/4 inch.  That just means instead of one click to the right of 1/4 inch I've gone 2 clicks right.  That's the most my quarter inch foot will allow without crashing the needle into the presser foot. 

When I pulled these out from behind the sewing machine I couldn't help but want to drape them around the studio.   Tiny little bunting!

The Scrap Baskets are coming along slowly.  That seam ripper isn't there for looks.  Sadly I've had a couple of OH NO's!  It was more like $#!*.  Oh well... a few Hail Mary's, throw a quarter in the swear jar and we're good to go.  

~ Lea Anne ~

Today's freebie from Mary Mcguire Designs

Click here for pattern

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Finally done!

At last, 182 blocks done.  Saying that they were fun to make would be an outright lie.  The first few were fun and then sewing the same block over and over and over became so BORING.    Oh they were simple to make and go together pretty quick, that is if you can stick with it.  But you know me, I'm like Kermit the frog jumping from one project to another.

The closer I came to getting them done it once again became fun.  Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel was encouraging, causing me to sprint to the finish line.  And the fact that I cheated and made the finish line closer by altering the plan from 198 to 182 blocks.  And since I used paperless paper piecing that means there's no paper to rip away.  You can see this handy method of paper piecing here.  It really is a time saver method.  And frugal.  Instead of printing out 182 blocks I only had to print out 12.  Using the same 12 patterns for all the blocks!  You can find the free block pattern here.  

One of the reason quilters like paper piecing is the perfect points.  Just stitch on the lines and you pretty much can't go wrong.  Since this method is paperless I'll use one of the templates as a guide for setting up my seam allowance.  

 I forgot to mention the name of the block...silly me.  It's an old pattern, some call it the Hummingbird block and others call it Periwinkle.  I'm sure if we dig around we could find a couple more names, but these are the most popular.

And of course...

 You knew I couldn't make a quilt without a cherry in it, didn't you?

I'm linking up today with Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's be Social.  It's a great way to meet new bloggers and find inspiration.  

~ Lea Anne ~

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Impulse and Inspiration

Being that I'm on a stash diet, rarely do I buy new prints.  Unless I find a GOOD buy.  So I was shopping last week and... Found one!  5 greener than green prints 1/2 yd cuts for under $10. Yeah!  Impulse gets the best of me.  I've absolutely no idea what to make with them.  So I tucked them away waiting for inspiration.

Found it!  Farmer Hershel drove by this morning mowing the ditch.  Hmmmm....

Lori Holt from Bee In My Bonnet has a super Tractor block that would do the trick.  A large block at 18 x 22,  It wouldn't take very many blocks to make a good sized lap quilt.   And then I thought about her Barn Blocks that you can find here and here.  Maybe a quilt using both the Tractor and Barn blocks and some filler blocks....  It's not a definite plan for a quilt, but the wheels are turning....  

~ Lea Anne ~

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Magical Monday

Happy Magical Monday!   Do you ever wish you could wave a magic wand or sprinkle pixie dust over a project and like magic "POOF" it would be finished? 

Well it didn't work, my wand must need new batteries.  So these hummingbird blocks came together with good old fashion work.  About 20 more blocks and it can be pieced into a quilt top.  

As little girl I just knew mastering the witchy nose twitch was the key to all problems.  

As an adult we're suppose to realize the real magic is in the satisfaction of a job well done.  Really?!  Come on...I'd really rather twitch my nose at that pile of laundry, I could be so satisfied with the "POOF" it's done.  For now I'm stuck with working a little of my own magic on these daisy blocks.  By using the magical technique of invisible machine applique on the center circle

 "ABRA-CADBRA"

they were done in an hour!  

After a weekend of working magic in the studio, I gathered up my scraps and placed them in a jar.  A patchwork potion for another day.  

~ Lea Anne ~

There's more magic going on over at Judy's for Design Wall Monday.  

Today's Freebie From Donna's Lavender Nest

Click here for the tutorial

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